


Not A Normal Flavor

by fairydustedtheory



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: (brief mentions of past Derek/Jennifer), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Beaches, Beta Derek Hale, Fluff, Ice Cream Parlors, Ice cream parlor owner Stiles Stilinski, Kid Fic, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Seaside, Single Parent Derek Hale, Summer Vibes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:34:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25289893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairydustedtheory/pseuds/fairydustedtheory
Summary: Derek has a hard time bonding with his daughter since he finally got her back. She only seems to find comfort in the magic of the ice cream parlor that Stiles owns.(featuring : alive family hale. werewolves are known, magic Stiles. magic ice cream. fluff and finding one's own truth.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 57
Kudos: 876
Collections: A Very Sterek Summer fest 2020





	Not A Normal Flavor

**Author's Note:**

> Written for A Very Sterek Summer 2020. Day 1, theme Beach.  
> 
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](https://fairydustedtheory.tumblr.com/tagged/plot%20twist%20:%20i%20write)
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

"Are you sure this is what you want, Derek?" Talia asked for what seemed like the hundredth time since she got out of her car.

"Yes, mother." was Derek's answer. Again. 

The soft morning sunlight sweeping through the French window leading to the beach filled the living room with a warm golden glow. Derek knew it was the right thing to do. 

"We could help, you know. That's what a pack is for. You don't have to leave, you could stay with us." She gently touched his forearm in that motherly gesture she had sometimes when she really wanted him to stop and think. 

Derek closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, fingers clutching the somewhat heavy cardboard box in his hands just a little too tightly. 

Yes, the pack bonds. 

He had the bonds with his family but the child who was still curled up in the back seat of his car, refusing to move, didn't.   
Derek would like to seek comfort in the pack bonds, feel surrounded by this feeling of unquestionable belonging, feel secure and safe. He wished this was still his life. It hadn't been in a while. He hadn't felt safe in years. 

Now was a brand new beginning.

Terror was behind him, at least that was what he had thought when the judgment finally fell. It was supposed to finally be over, he was supposed to be able to let go of all this pain. Yet, to his surprise, a new kind of terror had been at the door in a second. Because, of course, how could his life ever be easy?

He would honestly like to be free to drink a nice chilled wolfsbane beer with his sisters and his parents on their fancy terrace up on the cliff, look at the horizon and light glistening on the ocean waves and just know that life was going to be okay from now on. 

Except he couldn't do that, and mostly he didn't know that. Not yet.

Not when the little girl still trying to hide away on the back seat of his car had been crying all night long for the past few nights. Not when he had barely managed to put a hand on her shoulder without her flinching away like he had physically hurt her with the slightest touch.  
The bonds were nonexistent to her.   
There was no feeling of pack and home in that house. It was just a huge unfamiliar and unwelcoming McMansion filled with people she hated - or at least didn't know yet. Derek hoped she would open up to them, that the bonds would form and hopefully he would be home for her.

"I know, mom, please." Derek looked straight at her. He wasn't exactly pleading, but he hoped she would stop pushing and see he was determined. "I wish I could rely on your Alpha wisdom for this, but this is something I need to do. I need - before either of us can be your beta, I need to be her father and she needs to be my daughter."

"Oh Derek..." Talia said softly. 

Clearly, Derek's honesty didn't do much to smooth the crease between his mother’s eyebrows. He had nothing else to offer to comfort her but the truth. They were strangers, She was just a three year old. What did they all expect? What did Derek expect?

"That's what my instinct is telling me. I don't want to force her into compliance. I want us to belong together.” Derek told her with a tight smile.

He was a little ashamed to admit that he had in fact expected everything to go smoothly. He had thought the foster care worker would have handed him a nice little girl over along with his parental rights and that everything would have been fixed. She would have jumped in the arms of her long lost father as if she was finally where she had always dreamed to be. He had been ready for the happy ending to that nightmarish hell of nearly half a decade. 

Except that had been the naive illusion of a clearly - and surprisingly still - optimistic mind.

Lila had cried, screamed, let herself roll on the floor in the office where Derek had come to get her.  
She had done the same when he had tried to put them in the brand new car seat he had installed in his Camaro. The social worker had rolled her eyes at that and commented on a needed change into something a little more SUV, maybe a Toyota. Derek wasn’t having any of that. The Camaro clearly wasn’t the problem here.

The same scenes had happened when they had gotten out of the car and passed the electronic gate of the Hale Mansion. She had crashed to the marble floor and cried, making all the wolves very uncomfortable and Derek even more so by how inadequate he felt. 

She had looked so lost, Derek’s heart had shattered in a million pieces. He was supposed to make her feel safe... not destroy her.

In the morning, he had resolutely decided that he wasn’t going to let his daughter cry ever again. That promise had been broken about ten minutes later when she had woken up, after a very short night crying herself to sleep, and the first thing she had done was cry some more. Derek would very much like to spend the rest of his life never seeing or hearing someone cry, least of all his own daughter.

The Hale Mansion lacked something in her eyes. The too large rooms and too long hallways didn’t help. Even to Derek, it had started to feel cold and empty, seeing it through her eyes. He wanted to make a home, a real home for the two of them, a home in each other.

  
Talia begrudgingly left him with the few boxes of the belongings he deemed essential. Mostly it was Lila’s stuff that he had been able to retrieve. He obviously hadn’t felt like putting them up at the Mansion. It wouldn’t have been right to do so while she had been crying her eyes out. He wasn’t even certain it would be a good thing to put them up at all. All the mementos of a life she would never have again. It was familiar but maybe too bittersweet.  
Derek didn’t feel like getting rid of everything though. It wasn’t his to discard or keep. No matter how much he hated the woman who had been able to create these memories with the little girl, it wasn't his place. 

He pushed his gut twisting feeling aside as he strode back to the car. The door was still open, Lila was still unbuckled the way he had left her, hoping she would get out of the car and follow them in the beach house. She hadn’t. She was still curled up on herself. Waiting.

“Lila? Please, come inside with me?” He asked, almost prayed, with as gentle a tone as he could manage. 

  
She opened her big wet eyes and looked up at him. 

Derek hoped they would have a good life.

*-*-* 

He rose up in the early hours of the morning, woken by the sound of the seagulls playing in the waves. He had left his window open, wanting to get around the werewolf soundproofing he had expressly asked for when he had put down his offer for the place.

It was mandatory for him to have a place with the proper kind of isolation, inside and outside, no matter how long or short their stay would end up being.

  
The Mansion wasn’t like that. His parents had had the bathrooms and bedrooms soundproofed, _as a compromise with their time_ they often said, but they seemed to complain about the soundproofing constantly. The rest of the house wasn’t, not even the outside. They were old school werewolves like that, thinking that packs had always been able to hear everything and it had been more than fine that way. Soundproofing was a thing only young hip people wanted.  
Wolves back in the day didn’t have a sense of intimacy. Times had changed, Derek was appreciative of the fact that it was now customary to soundproof houses the right way.

Intimacy wasn’t just for humans. Derek would very much like to not have to hear what his neighbors were up to behind closed doors. The one silver lining for the mansion was that the Hale property was huge so they weren’t too bothered by the sound of neighbors. Still, growing up, he had always been able to hear the whole town if he focused hard enough. 

A full soundproofing didn’t sound natural, he had to admit to that at least. His parents weren't all wrong about wolves instincts. He had left all the doors of the house ajar and cracked a window open, feeling better in the welcoming acoustic of sounds echoing and bouncing on the walls. 

He felt so much more in tune with the elements here. The flow of the moon crescent, the reflection of her silver grace on the water at night. He had barely slept, unused to his surroundings, an ear perked up at all times in the direction of Lila’s room in the hopes of a brighter future.

Everything felt so pure here at night. 

Not so much in the morning, when Lila curled up under her cover and refused to come eat breakfast. Derek wouldn’t stand by as his child starved to death. That wasn't a wolf's instinct.

"How about we go check out the beach and pick some seashells?" Derek asked, hopefully. "Running in the waves was one of my favorite thing to do when I was little."

She didn't answer, of course. She wasn't enthusiastic at all, but she followed, her head down looking at the ground. She accepted the breakfast muffin Derek offered her on the way out. Small victories. That was the only way Derek would make it.

She was still in her pajamas. He didn't want to see a problem with that. It was better to go smoothly about things and not try to fight some clothes on the little girl. She had screeched bloody murder yesterday when he had tried to get her to put on some pants. He wasn't up for a repeat just yet. A child’s tantrum was always difficult to bear for anyone, it was actually excruciating to be the person to whom the tantrum was actually directed. Derek had revised his whole opinion on the matter. This was one of these instances where the phrase “you’ll understand when you’re a parent” took all its meaning.  
He had so much to learn.

As soon as their feet hit the sand, Lila attempted to take off in a random direction. They weren't even close to the water. It seemed that anything was good enough as long as it was a way to get away from Derek. He sighed and grabbed her firmly before she could move more than a few feet. She was too young to be a runaway child.

She started sobbing. Derek flinched at the sound and let her go. The sound of her crying was really something unbearable. It had the power to crush his insides. There was something about her. Children crying had never had that effect on him. He didn't know if that was just because she was his blood in a way his sister's children weren't or if it was something else. Something twisty and painful.

"You don't even like me!" She cried out, falling to the sand in a big melodramatic gesture.

“Oh, I, uh,” Derek stammered, his face heating up.

It sounded bad. So bad. He should have straight up said I love you but Derek was bad with words. With people. With big melodramatic gestures too. The only dramatics he enjoyed was when he ditched one of his mother's cocktail parties to go play Wolf Hunt with his nephews and nieces. There, he would be free to enjoy the whole act of flicking his claws and growling, chasing them around through the trees like the big bad uncle wolf as he was following the sound of their giggles.  
Here though, he only felt like a big bad failure of a parent. Not even a parent, just a failure. That was what it was, that twisty feeling clenching at his heart, Derek realized.

It wasn't easy to know how to act. It had been a messy battle against Jennifer in court. She had had all the arguments in her case to make it difficult. Society wasn’t always kind to werewolves. It took years of complete and utter chaos. The press and even the lawyers had wanted to capitalize on the publicity, the drama, they could gain from the whole thing.   
Derek Hale, in himself wasn't much aside from his connection to Talia Hale, CEO, mayor, one of the most renowned advocate for werewolf equality rights. Oh yeah, being Talia Hale's son had been and still was a big fat target on his back. He should have known.

Sweet miss Jennifer Blake had never been truly sweet. She pretended very well, she had a whole act going on. The cute and awkward act had made Derek notice her right away. She could be very charming when she wanted to please.  
It had all started normally enough. Derek had never felt it shift toward anything else, he could have believed he was in love and not have questioned it a second. The one twist though was that, as it had been proven later, when things didn't seem to move along fast enough for her taste, she had had no problem using spells to make him see eye to eye with her.  
Derek liked to think he wouldn't have agreed to all the things he accepted over the couple of years they had been in a relationship but he would never know for sure. 

He couldn't tell with exactitude how or when the spell finally started to wear off. She had made a mistake at some point, forgotten to redo it to make it last longer or whatever it was that made magic work. Derek didn't know, Derek didn't care. It was sometime during the pregnancy that he felt his eyes really open and see for the first time again. 

He could have just ran, leave all that shit behind and find peace in his pack and focus on rebuilding himself. He decided to fight instead. Fight legally that was, not physically. Although he would have very much liked to rip her throat out for taking control over his emotions and his body. He didn't do that, he couldn't play into the animal instincts at all. Not when he was in his position. Society barely accepted that he was the victim. He hated that term but his lawyer had insisted and he had been forced to recognize it as fact. He had been manipulated. Some part of him had wanted revenge back then, make her suffer.  
Only, if he had taken only one step in her direction, the press would have jumped on him. It took all his control to not mess up his case in court, mess up everything his mother had wanted to build for the werewolf community. He couldn’t destroy his very thin chance to get custody of his child for some hot-tempered reaction.

That little girl, barely even born at the time, was his. It didn't matter what or who she was, she was his. He had promised himself that he would love her no matter if she was born human, a spark or a werewolf. So many possibilities in her brand new DNA.   
Sadly, Jennifer had managed to keep Lila from him. She had managed to turn the trial to her advantage, Derek only being allowed a handful of supervised visits to see his daughter grow. He kept fighting, he appealed. He fought for his daughter until they had finally been able to prove that Jennifer was a user of black magic and the prime suspect in another case.

In a world where shifters and magic were living side by side with humans, some rules were not to be taken lightly. Black magic was forbidden for the safety of all, it was no joke.

Derek should have been overflowed with relief knowing that she would end her life in magic sealed prison and would never be able to hurt anyone. She deserved to be put away for all the wrong she did, not just to Derek but to everyone who had made the mistake to stand in her way. The only problem was that it tore Lila apart. Three years of only knowing her mother, being brought up in a world of magic and absolutely ignoring her werewolf heritage. She had only known one world. One world Derek had never really been a part of, one world Derek might never want to come close to ever again.

Lila was a werewolf pup, it turned out. Jennifer had snarled out that one piece of information to him, with as much hatred as she had apparently been able to muster as she was being handcuffed and dragged away to the dark hole in which Derek hoped she would rot for all eternity. He had no idea how long she had known, he had no idea what she could have said or not to Lila about that new change happening inside of her. Pups usually showed the first sign of the shift around three years old. Derek hoped Lila hadn’t been precocious, he hope the pull of the moon hadn't affected her much earlier than that. A few months would already have felt like a lifetime with no one there to explain anything to her. 

Derek wanted to explain everything to her. He wanted to sit on the sand on a clear full moon night, hold his girl in his arms and tell her all the stories his mother had told him when he was a child. The stories of the Beast, the stories of love hidden in a wolf’s heart. He wanted to explain the place they had in the world, in the pack. He wanted to make it all make sense, for him and for her.

"Everything will be alright." He said, hoping the promise would not turn out to be a lie. It wasn't an answer to her statement. He wasn't sure he could be confident she would believe him if he contradicted her. It was safer to go for hope here.

She sniffed, rubbed her nose with the back of her hand, and looked anywhere but at him. 

"Let's go for some ice cream. Big emotions call for ice cream, that's a thing your aunt Laura says all the time." Derek said with a tight smile.

Laura was his go-to for parenting advice now. Four kids of her own, she did have to go through her fair share of drama. Nothing quite like this though.

"Big everything calls for ice cream." She retorted as they made their way down the seafront to the marina. 

That was the first positive thing he heard coming off of her mouth. Derek considered that a win. 

*-*-*

They walked in silence. The wind rushing through sailboat masts in a clickety-clackety which sounded like wind chimes. The sound brought a lovely kind of peace in Derek's heart. He almost dared reaching to hold Lila's hand. Almost but not quite. He needed to take this one step at a time, one day at a time. One hope at a time too.

  
Derek looked around, finding some strange pleasure in the fishy smell of the harbor, a couple of guys were busy cleaning the hull of the small boat suspended over their head.

Suddenly, with a short excited squeal, she ran off to a little storefront. A wooden pole was welcoming customers to the Magic & Cream shop. The pole was covered in runes and other magical symbols Derek could recognize but not interpret. That was what Lila was looking at, tracing some of them on the wood with her tiny fingers. 

It was almost 10am, the sun shining in the blue sky, everything was a call for nice frozen treat.  
A man and a woman were sitting there casually eating some ice cream cones. The buzz of their conversation wasn't of much interest to Derek so he tuned them out as he walked closer and crouched down next to his daughter. 

"Can you read them?" He asked gently, pointing at some runes and tracing one with his index. The wood felt warm under his touch, warm from the sun and from something else.

Lila shook her head no, eyes roaming over the symbols, studying them with wide open fascination. It felt as if this was the first time she recognized anything in this strange new life. Derek wished he could say more, wished he could say he knew some of them, he wished he was able to share something with her. Something she clearly longed for and craved. But Derek had no magic in him. No magic and maybe just a little bit of fear still lingering inside like a rotten root at the base of a tree.

  
Derek startled up to his feet as a big crash was heard from the ice cream parlor terrace. The man, who had been sitting there just a minute ago, had jumped off the bench, bringing everything to the floor in his angry haste.

“I'm gonna kill you!” The guy yelled, stomping over in the direction of the ice cream display where another young man stood.

"Wowow. We don't punch the messenger! If anything you should maybe punch yourself. You know that’s a thing, self flagellation. If you had stayed faithful to this wonderful lady right here you wouldn't have turned this very nice shade of purple. Sorry blueberry, but cheating isn't really your color." The young man, in his early twenties if Derek had to take a guess, held up his hands in surrender as the angry guy grabbed the lapel of his shirt.

As they moved, Derek realized that yes, the guy's skin was very purple and it wasn't from make up.

Mister Blueberry raised a fist and was ready to throw his punch when Lila let out a small whimper next to Derek, eyes transfixed on the scene in front of them. Well, fuck, Derek had to do something. He couldn't just stand there and watch the scene unfold when Lila was there watching it too. Violence wasn't to be tolerated.

He moved fast, grabbing the threatening fist and turning it back into an arm lock. The guy let out a short angry cry as he was now unable to get away.

"Get your sorry unfaithful ass out of here. One wrong move and I'll gladly break your arm." Derek growled in the guy's ear.

As far as not wanting to traumatize his kid with violence, Derek could have gone a different route, but Purple Guy didn’t seem to be the kind of people a few reasonable words would calm.

"Yeah, radish head, he'll break your arm." The shop owner smirked, with a hint of smugness which could be surprising on the face of someone who had nearly gotten beaten by a man a least thirty pounds of muscles heavier than him. 

Derek glared in his direction, half a mind to break his arm too if he - "Stiles" Derek read on his name tag - intended to get too cocky about it. Derek could break arms left and right he didn't care at this point. The guy didn’t seem affected at all. He only stared back at Derek with that same mischievous expression.   
Strangely, Derek’s glare lost his edge as he stopped to stare back just a minute too long at so-called Stiles' mouth and these cute little beauty marks on his cheeks and neck. And these bright whisky-colored eyes which seemed a little glazed over for a second.

Once released from Derek's grip, What's-His-Purple-Face shook him off with a jerk of his shoulders. He didn't leave right away, preferring to stand there a minute letting out a long list of poetic curses. He obviously didn’t care that a little kid was able to hear them.  
Luckily, Lila wasn't paying attention to him nor his curses at all. She was looking at both Derek and that Stiles guy, still frozen in place near the wooden pole. She moved as the purple man strode off, brushing past her in his angry retreat.  
She decided to sit on the chair closest to her. Her small hand still able to touch the runes carved on the wood. That seemed to be essential for some reason.

The woman who had still been sitting on the other side of the table while all of this had been going on grabbed her handbag and stood up.

"Thanks babe." She said giving that Stiles guy a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Always a pleasure, Lyd'." He replied with a soft smile. "Although, I can only advise you to try to find a better one next time."

"The best ones are either taken or gay. You would know." She gave a little shrug. 

She had just confirmed that her boyfriend had been cheating. That scene, even though no actual word had been exchanged between the two, clearly had to be a break up of some sort. It was amazing that nothing about her gave off the idea that she was heartbroken. Young people and their casual flings, Derek thought. He had a hard time grasping the concept. He sometimes wished he had it in him, but life had showed him that caution was advised when he couldn't not put his whole heart into things.

“In another life maybe!” Stiles winked as he walked her back out.

Derek didn't know what to do, standing there awkwardly as the two said their goodbyes. He averted his eyes, choosing to focus on Lila instead. 

  
"So..." Stiles said, slumping down in the chair across the table from where Lila was sitting. “I should probably thank your dad, right?”

Lila didn't respond, just stared. Derek could understand the feeling. 

"Wait, he is your dad, isn't he?" Stiles turned to look back at Derek who was still glowering. "Yeah, he is. You both have that same indescribable charming quality and easy use of words." 

Lila gave him a short nod. Derek's heart clenched. He was so desperately in need of validation from her that even the smallest affirmation that she considered him her dad was enough. It was just the first step, it was huge already. He stilled, focused on breathing trying to get his nervous energy in and out of him through the flow of air in his lungs. 

"He's a werewolf, right?" Stiles continued, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table, coming closer to her as if in secret. His eyes didn't leave Derek's face. "He feels like a werewolf."

"Yes." Lila whispered.

"Are you?" Stiles turned to her, earnestly.

A shadow cast over her eyes, she nodded timidly. Derek realized at that moment that he hadn't taken the time to ask her what she knew. How could he have forgotten to ask her?

"That's awesome!" Stiles smiled brightly. "You're the first pup I've met. My best friend is a werewolf but he doesn't have children yet. I don't know when he's going to get his head out of his... you know. Anyway, yeah. moving on." He stopped himself before adding to the flourish of new vocabulary Lila had already had the pleasure of hearing today. "Can you shift already or not? You're still young, aren't you?"

Derek let out a grunt from where he stood. He wasn't sure if he should let some stranger talk to his daughter about something so intimate. But then again, it was the first time she seemed to relax even just remotely and he didn't want to take that away from her. He did decide to walk a little closer, still keeping his distance as to not bother them and their conversation but closer still. He accepted his role as witness. It was good to witness Lila talk and express some of her feelings. Derek didn't have to be the recipient of her attention as long as she felt comfortable and safe, it was good enough for now.

"I can shift my eyes." She confessed.

"Really? Can you show me?" Stiles' eyes were bright with excitement. 

It might be a fake excitement, surely the guy had already seen glowing eyes if he was friend with a werewolf. Somehow the happiness in his eyes felt real, Derek couldn’t help but stare into them for a little longer than necessary. His own surprise and pride knowing that the little girl was able to do that was reflected in this stranger. 

Lila's forehead creased in concentration. She closed her eyes tightly before opening them to a brand new golden glow.

"Woooaahhh." Stiles said. 

Yes, that was definitely a little dramatic, but Derek still had to fight a smile at the overly enthusiastic response. It was so reminiscent of how Laura used to praise her kids when they were that age. The feeling hidden behind it wasn't a lie. Derek felt it too. Seeing Lila's eyes was like seeing gold for the first time. 

Derek turned to find that the guy had sidled up next to him. "You'll be alright." He told him.

"What?"

"Thank you for the rescue, by the way." Stiles said, changing the subject with a lopsided grin on his face.

"Sure." Derek answered, not knowing what else he was supposed to say.

Derek frowned as the younger man stared at him with an intense glint in his eyes, mouth hanging half open. All Derek could think about was that he had a very nice mouth, nice shape, nice rosy color, would probably feel wonderful to the touch.

There was something wrong in his brain today. 

In his haste to hightail out of the shop, Derek completely forgot to buy any ice cream. He just awkwardly walked backward a couple of steps, grabbed his daughter's hand without thinking much of it and bolted out of there as fast as he could.

  
*-*-*

Lila made a beeline for her bedroom the second they had passed the threshold of the beach house. Derek just stood there, frowning and wondering how long he had to wait until he was allowed to try to go knock on her door. If he had been the child in this case, the answer would probably have been forever.  
Derek had always had the habit of locking himself out of the world when hurt. Lila was definitely hurt. He just didn't know what to do to make it better. He didn't feel like a parent at all. A parent would have known what to do to help their kid.

He tried knocking after a while, she refused to answer. He brought her a sandwich and left it on the plate on the floor in front of the door. His life had turned into a bad movie. He felt utterly pathetic. He was a grown man and absolutely useless and powerless in front of the sadness of a child. 

Lila felt lost and misunderstood and some part of him felt exactly the same. He called his mother and alpha, hoped to gain some wisdom from her, some sense of what to do. Nothing came of it, of course. Talia had a one track mind when it came to her children and lineage. Pack was pack, and pack belonged together. Derek had heard that over and over all his life. How could he explain that he was sure that wasn't what they needed when he didn't know what he was supposed to do instead? 

At least Lila wasn't crying, he made sure the window of her bedroom was cracked open so he could at least check on her. She wasn't crying, she was mumbling some stories to herself, maybe some memories she replayed in her head, maybe wishful thinking about finding a way to live another life than the one she had here with Derek. He hoped to understand the underlying meaning of all of it. He didn't eavesdrop to all she said. He wanted her to keep some of her secrets until she felt ready to share them.

Derek went to gather some drift wood. He figured if he was supposed to live in a beach house, he should act like it and make a nice little fire on the beach. He prepared the fire pit, dug several inches of sand out. He thought about s'mores, wondered if Lila liked them. 

Somehow his mind wandered to that ice cream parlor, the sweet smell inside.

He thought about that charismatic young man working there, thought about the magical ice cream able to turn some poor jerk purple. Thought about bright eyes. Lila’s golden ones too. The stranger had been able to reach her in a way Derek hadn’t even imagined was possible at the moment.

It might have something to do with the magic. It was called Magic & Cream after all. It was an understatement to say that Derek was a little wary of anything magical. Wary but with reasons, he kept repeating to himself. The mind remembered trauma as a defense mechanism, it wasn’t just that he wanted to distrust magic. He had been burned by it, it was now instinctual to be cautious.   
The only problem was that Lila seemed to need magic or at least magical understanding. She needed to keep that part of herself alive. It seemed logical, Derek thought, as he stabbed a marshmallow on a wooden stick. She needed the world to keep some resemblance to what she knew.

He watched the orange light of sun setting over the horizon as he grilled his marshmallows, alone, sitting on the sand.   
She had refused his invitation to join.

He heard her step out of her room sometimes, only to cross the hallway to the bathroom.

It felt like living with a ghost.

*-*-*

It was a little passed lunchtime when Cora, his little sister, barged in the beach house. She always struggled with boundaries. She might have been too spoiled by all of them. The baby of the family, sweet little thing had turned into a full grown woman. She knew how to get what she wanted. Derek had no power.

Cora smiled her too bright smiles and said she wanted to bond with her niece. 

"Join the club Cora." He deadpanned with a roll of his eyes.

Derek hadn't given up yet but it wasn't an easy quest. There wasn't an easy switch button to flip on or off. Sadness off, bonding on. That would be so easy and efficient.

"We should go to the marina!" Cora offered with a kind of excitement not exactly genuine but very much trying to sell it. "There are some toy capsule machines there. You know these vending machines with surprise little toys? They're great. I used to collect the balls when I was younger. I thought I'd be able to collect enough to make a ball pit and swim in them."

"How did that go for you?" Derek snorted, chuckling softly at the memory.

Cora punched him in the arm. It hadn't gone great. 

Lila's head perked up a little at the idea of toys. She glanced cautiously in Derek's direction. Anything, Derek would do anything. He would buy the freaking vending machine if that was the cost of a smile.

Derek nodded quickly before anyone had the chance to change their minds.

Cora had a way of taking Derek's attention, his big brother's instincts always ready to focus on her rather than on the outside world. So much so that Derek didn't realize they were back at Magic & Cream until he saw Lila run off again. Toy capsules could be forgotten when there was magic right there around the corner.

“Oh yeah! Magic & Cream! That place's got a reputation!” Cora exclaimed as they walked toward the ice cream parlor. "I’ve been dying to come here since I first heard about it. The reviews are hilarious. Rated 5/5 stars delicious ice cream and 100% working spells. Some people were pissed. Effective at first lick. I mean who's the genius who thought of combining the two? That's awesome."

Cora was ecstatic. Derek sort of wished there would be a different employee today so he wouldn't have to meet that same guy again. There was just something about that guy.  
Lila followed them, separating herself from the runic engraving on the pole, her interest piqued by the large display of colorful ice creams. She went, pushed her nose against the glass and sighed in what seemed like contentment. That was another first. 

"Hi, welcome!" The Magic & Cream owner greeted them in his professional tone as he walked back to the front. Derek held his breath a second. No luck here, that was the same guy. Stiles.

"Hello there!" Cora smirked, her flirting tone in full force. She had eyes, she could appreciate a beautiful man when she saw one. 

Derek would like the ground to open up and throw some wolfsbane in his eyes so he wouldn't have to see this. Knowing that his little sister had a sexual life was one thing, being a witness of her mating call was a hard pass. No thank you.

  
"Hey, Savior." Stiles smiled in Derek's direction. "Did you find anyone who needed saving today or do I need to get myself in a situation again?"

"Oh you've been here before?" Cora inquired, turning her head so fast she almost lost balance. That was saying a lot for a werewolf. "How was it?"

"I don't know, we didn't actually get any ice cream." Derek answered dismissively.

Derek didn't have to go into any more details than that. No ice cream, nothing to tell, simple as that.

"Yes, Mister Scowly here was too busy playing the hero and traumatizing my clientele." Stiles said in a fake innocent tone, as he bat his eyelashes over-dramatically in their direction.

Derek frowned. What was wrong with that kid?

"I think he's trying to tell you that he had the situation under control, Der." Cora translated for him, with a pitying grimace. "You were playing Superman again? You know that grew old around the time I turned fourteen, you should let go of the hero act."

"The clientele wanted to punch him in the face in front of us, all that because of one of his little tricks!" Derek countered. "That guy wouldn't have stepped one foot in the shop ever again anyway. Was I supposed to just stand there and let the morning turn into a blood bath?"

"You hear that?" Stiles said, speaking to Lila. "Your dad said I do little tricks. Do you think I do little tricks?"

"No." Lila shook her head in all seriousness. "No, it's magic."

"Yeah, daddy, it's magic." Stiles said right to Derek's face.

Derek’s brows climbed in surprise while Cora almost collapsed into giggles. 

“Shut up.” Derek muttered, his scowl deepening. 

"So, hum, can you explain to us, mere novices, how your establishment works?" Cora tried to ask, laughter still in her eyes and on the corner of her lips.  
Stiles' face fell back into professionalism in a second. "Sure! Over here, you have normal flavors, just plain normal ice cream, all organic ingredients but normal." 

Derek stared at him, just slightly amused by the clear show of distaste toward the word normal. Honestly, Derek could agree, what even was normal in society these days, normal had a different meaning for everyone. There was no way the sense of normalcy of a human being could come close to what normalcy meant for a wolf, same for magical beings, druids and the likes. The only way to go about things was to understand that some things were not to be understood. The experiences were so diverse, how could anyone try to define anything as normal. 

"And to this side, these are the magically enhanced flavors. Enough to get you a little high on a feeling. Happy, confident, in need of a good cry." He continued, pointing to one flavor after the other. "And then, I do special orders sometimes, as you witnessed yesterday, those can turn a little tricky. No pun intended of course." 

Cora laughed and ordered some confident ice cream. It wasn't like she needed it, but Derek didn't have the heart to argue that it might be a terrible idea. They hadn't actually asked how long the feeling was supposed to last and Stiles failed to mention it. He hoped it wouldn't last all week. Derek thought about that purple cheating guy, he sort of hoped he was still purple today.

Lila had a hard time choosing a flavor. Any suggestion Derek offered was received with a grimace or a questioning look. 

"You know, Derek, some happy ice cream would be perfect for you. When was the last time you smiled, big brother? I think I was in tenth grade, maybe even before that? All the drama is over now. Come on, let loose a little." Cora clapped a hand on Derek’s shoulder, licking some quickly melting ice cream from the cone in her other hand.

Derek wasn't about to test his chances on some unknown magic, but he did agree to get some plain coffee ice cream. Nothing fancy, nothing magical. Derek would go for a fake sense of normal.

"There you go, sir!" Stiles handed him the cone, annoyingly cheery.

Lila decided on strawberry. Plain too, to Derek's surprise. It wasn't that he would have rather fed her some magical cream, but with everything going on, he wouldn't have said no to some respite here. Knowing she could ride the high of some happy or calm enhanced ice cream, he probably wouldn’t have said no. A kid should be allowed to be carefree sometimes.

“So, verdict?” Stiles asked, biting his lower lip and peering up at Derek with his bright hazel eyes.

“Good.” Derek admitted. 

No need to go into details. It was a really good. Derek might even want to come back to eat some more. Only for the ice cream of course. And to see Lila relax and finally seem comfortable to interact with someone. Not for any other reason. Definitely not to stare and write a mental essay about the unknown path the moles on Stiles' skin seemed to tease into existence.

“Stiles, is that how you pronounce it? Stiles?” Cora interrupted their staring match.

“Yes.” He said, finally tearing his gaze away from Derek.

“How about you come sit at a table with us while the shop isn’t busy?” She offered a wicked grin on her face. She glanced at Derek, an eyebrow arched in connivance.

Derek only gave a very tight nod. He couldn’t openly refuse. What would be his reason? His mistrust of magic? His very slight attraction to the guy? None of that mattered when Lila was here and she clearly enjoyed Stiles’ attention. Derek couldn’t take that away from her because he was uncomfortable with what it made him feel.

The first thing Stiles did as he made his way around the counter was to crouch down next to Lila again. “I’m Stiles.” The young man shook hands with the little girl in a very human manner. “What is your name, strawberry pup?”

“Lila. Just Lila.” She shrugged.

"Lila. That’s a very pretty name. Easy to spell, easy to understand and pronounce. I can appreciate a good name. Lila is a perfect name." Stiles said with a smile.

"Really?"

"Yes. Definitely. It's like lilac, the flower that attracts butterflies. Did you know that? Look, now you enchant butterflies too!" Stiles flicked his hands open to release a dozen of magical butterflies made of golden light. Their wings refracted the light into tiny rainbows all around them. The butterflies flew and hovered over Lila for a minute before fading away. 

She looked at him, really looked at him, eyes sparkling as if she had just met the best man in the world. Her gaze traveled slowly to Derek as if to make sure he had seen. Yes, Derek had seen, he had seen everything, He had felt everything too. His heart skipped more than a beat. 

Stiles turned around, following Lila's line of vision, his eyes meeting Derek's. Derek's lips twitched up into the slightest hint of a smile. They did it of their own accord. Derek would deny that twitch and what it meant to his grave. Maybe that Stiles kid was wonderful on one too many levels. 

"Oh, Jesus Christ," Cora exclaimed. " These ice creams really are magical. That was the first fully formed smile of the decade!"

"You call that fully formed?" Stiles snorted. "That smile was in need of some training. Gotta work on that zygomaticus major muscle, dude. You seem to be a fan of non verbal communication, smiling is definitely an essential part of that in case you hadn't noticed. Gotta keep working out. Yeah."

Derek's loving sister was quietly chuckling from somewhere on the terrace, though not nearly quiet enough as Derek could very much still hear her.

Derek sighed and cast his eyes up to the sky. What was to be said about his life knowing he still considered coming back to this shop?

*-*-*

He would have loved to ignore the Magic & Cream shop. He would have loved to go back to the beach house and find his daughter happy to come home with him. Hold his hand, cuddle a little. But of course, it didn't happen this way.

Cora made a joke or two about the "cute, skinny, big-eyed Magic guy." Derek hoped she didn't have a crush on him. Not that it was any of Derek's business if she decided to date anyone, she could very well decide to date the ice cream guy, on what ground would Derek be allowed to try to stop her?  
The only thing was that her track record wasn't great when it came to her love life. Derek himself, didn't have a great track record but for a whole different reason he would rather not get into right now. Cora broke hearts by the dozen. How awkward would it become if things didn't end well, Derek would never be able to bring Lila back to the ice cream parlor. How awkward would it become if things didn't end at all, surely it wouldn't be healthy to be, even just a little bit, attracted to his possible brother in law. Something made him feel all twisted up inside.

  
"You should definitely go back sometime." She said.

"Why would I do that?" Derek arched an eyebrow at her, as he crossed his arms over his chest defensively. He knew he wasn't selling whatever it was he was trying to convey here.

"Because you want happiness." Cora shrugged. "And also, heart eyes, motherfucker!" She added gesturing to her eyes with a rolling motion of her fingers. 

Derek frowned. Oh no, Cora was definitely high on something. What the hell could that possibly mean?

  
Okay so maybe she was onto something. Not about Derek no. But about Lila. That was why they were back at the shop again a few days later, Derek told himself.

"Well well, isn't that my favorite customer coming in?" Stiles smiled at Lila.

She smiled and twirled her sundress. Things were going better, she wasn't crying anymore, or not a lot, but nothing seemed to feel as lovely as walking in this particular shop. Derek wondered if the place had been cast with a welcoming spell. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities. That could explain why Lila, and to some extent Derek, felt good here. He couldn't know for sure. 

Derek had that strange feeling that he always associated with pack. That feeling which was transcended every time he saw his mother never being alone, always standing a couple feet from his dad, every time she squished all her kids and grand-kids on the couch in the living room, or when she would come and put her head on Derek's shoulder sometimes, marking him with her scent, making sure he knew everything they didn't always say out loud.   
He didn't quite know why this place reminded him of this feeling. Home and safety. It was just an ice cream shop.

Stiles was already offering a cone of strawberry ice cream to Lila.

"There you go, darling." He told her with a wink.

"I think you've got a new regular." Derek said, finally stepping inside. He couldn't help the note of fondness in his tone.

"Only one regular?" Stiles looked pointedly at Derek. "Can't I get you anything?"

"Ice cream makes life better." Lila sighed next to Derek.

"Children only speak the truth." Stiles grinned. "How about that one scoop of happy ice cream?"

Derek only huffed in retaliation, making it a point to quirk a very unimpressed eyebrow.   
Stiles was wearing plaid today, Derek noted. The soft shirt was rolled up at the sleeves to make sure Derek could definitely see the way his wrist and fingers moved as he worked. It was enticing somehow to see Stiles' long fingers play with the containers. His mind providing him with the idea of Stiles' fingers but in a very non-ice cream related situation. His eyes locked on Stiles' after a moment. He found a curious surprise in there for a second. In a blink, the surprise was gone and Stiles was back to his usual commercial voice.

"So how about that scoop?"

"How about you take one so I can see how it goes?" Derek said through gritted teeth as crossed his arms over his chest.

"Nah, I don't taste the merchandise." Stiles pursed his lips, narrowed his eyes at Derek.

"That makes you sound like a drug dealer in a bad cop movie."

"Well, it isn't far from the truth... Happiness is addictive. Once you have it, it's hard to let it go. But maybe that's not your thing at all." Stiles retorted raising his hands in innocence.

"It sounds a little like you're here to sell me torment ice cream." Derek huffed. Why was he still talking about this?

"Ah torment ice cream. Good one, buddy. I'd need your help with the recipe. Torment ice cream would taste a lot sweeter than what you surely imagine though. Gotta find that right balance." Stiles replied with a sharp smile.

"Right." Derek glared. He refused to be amused.

Stiles hummed noncommittally, Derek couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking. He wished he was better with people. He wished he didn't have that many walls up. Trust wasn't an easy thing to give away. Derek's gaze lingered a little too long, trying to study the possible threat that Stiles might be, study the other possibilities too.  
Lila was getting restless next to him, probably wanting to go sit down or run away. It was really telling of the quality of the ice cream that she stayed there patiently, just happy to lick on some frozen goodness for as long as she did.

  
"Dude you can drop the act with me." Stiles said, after a minute, waving a hand dismissively.

"What?" Derek stared at him incredulously.

"Just FYI, I can sense people's energy, so if you wanted to give off some sort of monster vibes here. Sorry but no dice, I know you're a big softy.” Stiles chuckled, proud of himself.

Derek stared back, distracted by the way the bright afternoon light flowing through the shop made Stiles' eyes change to a beautiful amber color. Some part of him wanted to be terrified knowing that this young man had access to some part of him, just as easy as that. The other part of him was just fascinated. Derek wasn't actually a softy though, was he? 

"Here," Stiles leaned down to prepare a cone and came up with a scoop of what looked like chocolate fudge. "No magic."

"Thanks." Derek answered with a tight smile.

“Now stop looking so grouchy,” Stiles smirked, giving Derek his best teasing expression. “In the words of your sister, live a little!”

"I believe it was _let loose a little_." Derek corrected.

"Ah yeah, well, sorry, she's not the most memorable between the three of you." Stiles shrugged as he turned to put the chocolate fudge container back in the freezer.

Derek had to focus all his energy to keep his mouth from twitching up again. Clearly, Stiles meant Lila. Even that was very pleasing in a way. Derek would be able to tell Cora that her plan had failed. He now had a living proof that she wasn't meant to be the most irresistible person on the planet. Her charm hadn't operated on Stiles. Maybe it had to do with some magical protection warding off the heart breakers. Stiles seemed to be smart enough to not fall for easy seduction.

"She'll be disappointed to hear that." Derek replied, trying to come across as utterly neutral.

“Tell me about it,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “I'm a real catch.”

Derek closed his eyes and let out a small sigh. The ice cream in his hand started melting, dripping slowly down the cone and to his fingers. The sticky cold a welcomed distraction. Derek hoped that Stiles, unlike wolves, didn't have a way to hear someone's heart rate, because he didn't seem to be able to keep his in check. It was rabbiting out of his chest for some unknown reason.

  
*-*-*

By the fifth visit to the shop, Stiles invited Lila to come see behind the scenes. 

  
They had come a little early, Lila had only one word, a name, coming out her mouth these days. Derek would deny that he had only one thought in his mind too.

Stiles was only unlocking the door and arranging the terrace when they turned the corner and Lila ran to him to hug him.  
Derek felt like he had been punched in the gut. He hadn't had the chance to get a hug yet. She allowed him to hold her hand sometimes when they were on the beach, walking toes in the warm sand. She allowed him to talk about the pack, about her grandmother Talia. She allowed so much already and Derek was grateful for all these small baby steps. But she had never allowed him to cuddle with her or hug her.  
And now she was jumping as carefree as ever in Stiles' arms and allowing him to spin her around until she felt too dizzy and could barely stand when he put her back down.

It was amazing and frightening at the same time.

They made their way to the kitchen, Stiles took out a few bowls and started planning the recipe, the organic cream bottle on the counter next to them.

"Look, this is what we need." Stiles pointed to a small jar with a runic symbol scrawled on the label.

"What is it?" Lila asked with so much wonder in her voice.

"That -" Stiles pointed at the symbol. "is _Ansuz._ ᚨ. It brings inspiration, opens the inner powers. But what's actually in the jar is just super secret homemade vanilla extract. Any recipe calls for a few drops of vanilla to make for something extra delicious. It enhances the sweetness without sugar or magic. That's the real power." 

Customers weren't supposed to be allowed back here but somehow Lila had managed to get her way. She wanted to learn to make some ice cream and Stiles was the worst enabler there was. He had been thrilled to say yes, almost had jumped up and down with the idea of brainstorming some new flavor with them.

  
"Special order!" She had said brightly, not knowing what a special order actually meant here.

  
Stiles had smiled his most beautiful smile and agreed to let her make her own kind. She was on a stool, tiny hands going and touching almost everything. Especially anything that looked remotely magical. It was all very risky, not only because of the possible magic in the air and in the jars, but because most of what was in Stiles' kitchen seemed to be extremely fragile and breakable. Tiny hands could do some extreme damage in very little time here.

Derek was glad she had a way to express her interest in magic. He certainly wasn't the right person to help guide her through that. It was part of her, he knew. She could still be a spark somehow. Being born werewolf might not exclude the other components of her DNA. She might grow up to have that magical edge, and be a powerful magical strong woman. In a way, Derek hoped that would turn out to be true. That way, she would be able to reclaim everything she had lived with Jennifer. She would embrace both sides of herself.   
He hoped she would embrace both sides. She didn't seem to embrace the werewolf side just yet. Derek's heart stung a little, because as she was rejecting her wolf side, it still felt like she was rejecting him.

The full moon was soon approaching, there was no telling how that would go if she wasn't willing to express her feelings about the wolf in her.

"Oh man..." Stiles mumbled.

Something sounded fake in there. His heartbeat not quite right and his tone closer to the one of a terrible actor. Derek narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything to let the thing play out. 

"I need some special ingredient, the absolute most secret ingredient, to make this ice cream extra creamy. The problem is that I am never able to open the box by myself." Stiles sighed dramatically. He was a terrible actor.

"Oh no!" Lila sounded actually distressed. They'd have to work on her instincts a little because Derek was certain that even a human three year old would pick up that something wasn't quite genuine here.

 _"Oh_ Lila! Would you help me?" Stiles was pulling all the dramatics. "Are you able to pull out your claws yet?"

"My claws? Oh.." She frowned, looking at the ground. "Yes, but-"

"I mean I know it's not something werewolves are supposed to do in front of civilians and all that, but I'm not scared." Stiles glanced up at Derek, licking his lips. His mouth turned into an all too knowing smirk as Derek’s eyes were drawn to the movement for a split-second. "I can handle it." He added.

  
Derek fervently forced himself to avoid thinking about pushing Stiles against a wall to kiss that smirk off his face. It took a lot of energy to not do exactly that, even more energy to keep the thought out of his mind. Stiles' mouth seemed extremely kissable. 

"Well, if you're not scared then maybe I could try." Lila answered, timidly.

"Awesome! You really are my mini-savior!" Stiles exclaimed, back on topic apparently.

Stiles stretched up to grab a small unidentified cardboard box from the top shelf on the wall. After putting the box down on the counter, he turned to Lila who was too busy staring at her hands and hadn't even noticed the box yet. 

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Stiles reassured her.

"No, no I want to." Lila answered him, but her eyes met Derek's an instant. 

He knew very well she wanted to please Stiles, make him proud. If it was just a question of opening a stubborn box, she would have turned to Derek's claws instead of her own.  
This needed to go well. It was such a huge step for her to do this.

Derek stepped closer, decided to take this glance as an invitation. He offered his hand, palm up, for to fit hers inside his. His heart spiked when she did. 

"Just focus," Derek whispered, softly, intently. "Focus, just like you do when you shift your eyes. Think about what you want to do. Your claws are a part of you, a defense, and right now they're your tool."

She took in a deep breath and flicked her hand open with a brand new set of sharp claws. She played with her fingers around as if learning the new feeling of her hand moving through the air. 

"There you go, good job." Derek praised her with a small smile. She was a natural.

"Amazing!" Stiles approved. "Now, my box please!" He added pushing the small box right in front of Lila.

She used her index claw to tear it open. Nothing a sharp knife wouldn't have been able to do but Derek wasn't going to mention it. He appreciated Stiles' efforts so much. Every new step was a victory. Every time she allowed him to come close to her. Every time Stiles was here with them. All of it felt right in a way Derek had never experienced.  
He wasn't clear on what it was. His mind didn't feel clouded, nothing felt like a certainty. He didn't feel like he had with Jennifer and that was just good news, wasn't it? Nothing felt like a falsification of his mind. He was just standing there, amazed and a little confused as to what he was supposed to feel.

  
Still, he couldn't shut that tiny voice telling him he shouldn't trust magic, that magic had burned him, hurt him, hurt his family - even hurt Lila, in a completely different way but still painful as hell. Some part of him knew Stiles had showed no malice whatsoever. He hadn't tried anything too obvious, not yet anyway. The one problem was he couldn't shake the feeling that if all of it was fake, if Stiles' plan was to sneak in and gain trust, he was on the right track. Derek couldn't let his guard down completely.

They finished the recipe. It turned into a sort of Tutti Frutti that Lila wanted enhanced with the feeling of birds singing. Derek doubted that birds singing was a dessert option but Stiles didn't seem deterred. He did his thing as Lila watched in awe and Derek watched in... awe too.   
Not just by the magic, but by everything the man to whom the magic belonged was. He was gorgeous, always, but when Stiles used his magic, there was just something transcendent about him. Something in the sparks flying from his fingers, something in that deep look of concentration on his face.

  
Derek wanted to kiss him.

  
It was crazy. It was crazy because Derek didn't even know Stiles. Not really. Barely. It was just a gut feeling. Something inside of him wanted to kiss Stiles, grab him by the back of his neck and bring their mouths together, taste him. Know him.

Funnily enough, the ice cream had to go into a machine to actually freeze. It wasn't done by magic. Lila was disappointed, Derek a little too, that sort of broke the illusion of magical ice cream. Stiles laughed at both of them and told them that patience was also magical sometimes.

*-*-*

“Dude, seriously,” Stiles huffed, with a hint of exasperation seeping into his voice as soon as Lila was outside to play while the ice cream was churning. "You need to relax."

"Am I that obvious?" Derek said while slowly rubbing his temples.

"Yup." Stiles nodded, scrunching up his nose. "Listen, it's not my place to give anyone any advice here. I'm still going to give my shiny two cents on the matter because I can't stand this. Looking at the two of you tiptoeing around each other for hours, it's awful. You're way too constipated. You put way too much pressure on yourself and by extension on her. She feels it, I feel it too and I'm not the main focus of your attention. So you need to calm down. I'm not a parent, I know, I also know I don't know the extent of what you both have gone through so I can't really judge. All I can say is that I am that kid who lived through some shit when he was just a little too young. And people will tell you that children have a way to bounce back. That's a phrase I used to hear a lot. Kids just bounce back. But..." He let out a short humorless laugh. "Plot twist, kids aren't bouncy balls. Kids don't hit the ground and fly up higher than before. It's not that easy... When my mom died," Stiles' eyes unfocused for a second before he continued. "my dad was absolutely lost for a while and that's okay. It's not, like, _forbidden_ to be lost for a little while. And it never felt like bouncing back; we felt the pain, it was heavy. But that's okay. People, not just kids, people can adapt. It takes work sometimes to make things feel light again. It takes time."

"Yeah..." Derek breathed out.

"You're here, you're ready to put in as much work as needed. Just give her time. Give yourself time." Stiles finished with a tight smile which was probably intended to be reassuring, but failed to cover the small hint of pain hidden in him.

"Were both your parents sparks?" Derek asked, not wanting to make Stiles uncomfortable but still wanting to keep the conversation going.

"Only mom. It was hard getting to understand my magic without that primary source of knowledge. A guide isn't the same thing as having someone who loves you there all day every day." He shrugged to keep his composure.

"That's how you made up your own rules then? I'm pretty sure magical ice creams aren't common except for this one shop." Derek tilted his head a little and gave him a knowing look.

"Well, what can I say? Would you not want to mix two of your favorite things? What is it for a wolf? Running and the full moon? Running under the full moon, that's totally a thing. Howling too. Big bad wolf style under the moonlight."

"That's your image of wolves? I'd like to see you with my pack -" Derek stopped himself abruptly.

What was he even talking about? Derek couldn't invite a stranger into his pack. What was wrong with him?

Stiles was nice. Nice, beautiful, smart, incredibly patient with Lila, and strangely patient with Derek too, even if he liked pushing some of Derek's buttons sometimes. The power of his gaze was uncanny sometimes as his eyes peered into Derek's soul and studied it without any official search warrant. Criminal, that was what it all felt sometimes. As if Stiles was breaking and entering into Derek's life and finding a place there and Derek willingly let him. Did he even have a choice? Fuck, it didn't feel like magic but what was it then? Derek couldn't let invitations into his pack slip into random conversations like that.

"You can full shift, don't you?" Stiles asked, luckily not picking up on Derek's mental freak out, or purposefully ignoring it. "My best friend, Scott, told me that born wolves had no trouble finding their full shift forms. He was bitten so he's still struggling. I can't help with that, sadly, no amount of research can explain the phenomenon. That's just something felt I guess. Same as Magic."

"Same as Magic." Derek echoed.

Stiles seemed to hesitate a minute before starting again. "I hope you won't be mad but I actually know who you are. I'm not gonna lie. I can't tell you I don't know some of the story. I mean, I certainly know what was in the press, not really much more than that, not even _that_ as I always take what's in the press with a grain of salt because, you know, society. But yeah... I know what Magic must mean to you." Stiles continued, his voice coming out a little strangled at the end. "I can't blame you, but -"

"You're not like that." Derek was surprised at how confident he sounded. Did he know that for sure?

"Can you really tell?" Stiles asked earnestly.

"No. Yes, but not like you feel people's energy, and could tell me I'm a softie. Which I'm not, let's be clear." Derek added, just to make a point.

"Right, you're the big old scary wolf." Stiles smirked. "So tough. Grrr."

"Shut up." Derek shot back, his lips quirking up into a smirk of his own.

Stiles laughed. God, Derek really loved that sound. He might want to wake up to that sound.

Stiles brought a cone of ice cream to Lila as soon as it was out of the machine. That little girl was starting to get used to being spoiled rotten with sweet frozen treats. Derek didn't know if he should try to stop it. He decided not to.

Lila sat on the ground next to the wooden pole at the corner, taking her sweet time tasting that new flavor they had just created. Derek could hear the rumble of contentment coming off of her. He let himself indulge in the feeling of peace around him for a moment.

He was happy to just stand there his forearms resting on the granite counter as he watched her. They were getting somewhere. Derek could feel things getting better. Amazing that this was actually his life. Better had never been the feeling he used to describe anything. It had always been things going awry. Worse always. But not anymore. Something seemed to have shifted in the right direction somehow. He hoped it wasn't some kind of illusion.

Stiles came back to stand next to him. Derek didn't even turn or flinch at the presence in his space.

All of a sudden, fingers found his hand. He didn't even react at first, as if Stiles touching him was a common occurrence. It was in a way, although Derek wasn't really sure when it had started. But this was different, he realized. The touch had meaning. Stiles' finger traced a straight line on his skin with his index, added another one, forming a sort of P but sharper, more angular.   
Derek's skin tingled at the touch.

"What was that?" Derek jerked his hand away harshly. "What did you do?"

"Oh, I - I'm sorry." Stiles stuttered, taking a step back.

"What was that?" Derek's heart was skyrocketing in panic. Because no, Stiles wasn't like that, Stiles wasn't supposed to do something like that.

"It's not - It's _Wunjo._ It's just Wunjo. I'm sorry, I didn't think - just a force of habit. It's just came out. I swear it's not a spell, there's no magic. It doesn't do anything, it's just wishful thinking." Stiles' hand found Derek's again.

He didn't even flinch when Derek' eyes startled, glowing defensively. His palm covered where his finger had traced, holding him. Reassuring.   
Derek breathed in and out, calming himself from that initial terror.

"What does it mean?" Derek asked. It came out as a murmur, as if he was scared to even ask.

"It's Wunjo. The runic symbol of joy and harmony, and the gathering of the members of a clan. It's just wishful thinking." Stiles looked at him from under his lashes again. 

That alone was infuriatingly endearing. He added that little curl on one corner of his lips. Stiles seemed acutely aware of his effect on Derek. Wishful thinking? Stiles just wishing Derek to find joy and harmony in a gathered clan? That was almost too cheesy and sweet. 

  
"It's not a spell?" Derek's frown was leaving just yet.

"No." Stiles confirmed, his heartbeat steady.

"Okay." Derek swallowed around the dry lump in his throat. "Okay."

Derek breathed, just looking at Stiles for a moment. Giving himself the time to realize that Stiles felt honest. It wasn't some kind of trick or manipulation. He knew not all magic was infused with wrongness, not all sparks were druids and not all druids were dark. It was just a different world, one of which he only ever encountered the dark side. Maybe Derek could trust someone with magic if that someone was Stiles. Stiles was light. 

"Would you... would you do it to her too?" Derek glanced at Lila still slurping on her ice cream sticky fingers. He surprised himself with the words coming out of his mouth. 

"Yeah..." Stiles smiled brightly. "Yeah, of course if that's -"

"Just no magic, I want her to get there on her own terms." 

"Of course." Stiles nodded. "And don't worry. Don't worry, she'll get there. She's getting there."

"Yeah. I know." Derek breathed out.

He dared let himself believe it. He dared let himself have hope. And not just about Lila, maybe about Stiles too.

  
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Derek said, it came out as a question as Derek found himself brushing a hand over the small of Stiles’ back as he walked around him on his way out.

He just couldn't really deny he was waiting in anticipation for his visits at the shop anymore. It wasn't meant to be a question. Derek knew exactly where to find Stiles if he wanted to see him. And God, he wanted to see him.

*-*-*

Derek squinted his eyes against the blinding sunlight of the early afternoon.   
Talia had insisted, Laura had insisted, Cora not so much, and Dad, Dad was just happy as long as Derek knew he was welcome. 

  
Anyone was welcome, it was an open event. The yearly sandcastle competition was a tradition. The whole pack was going. Talia being the mayor made a point of being there, showing up and looking as dazzling as a middle aged mother of three could ever be. Derek would get smacked in the head if she heard him say something like that about her.

Derek wondered if it was a good idea to bring Lila here. They had been somewhat secluded from the pack for a whole month now. They had dropped by a couple of times but only one at a time. Lila hadn't been particularly pleased, but she hadn't refused to see them. It was already an improvement from a few weeks ago.

Bringing her on a crowded beach to spend the afternoon hanging around the whole pack, adults and children alike, might not fly as easily.

It was difficult to know for sure. Derek was quickly realizing that being a parent was to be in a constant state of questioning every and any decision he ever made. He chose to have hope again and decided to go. Maybe Lila would strike a kinship with her cousins. Maybe they would laugh and build sandcastles until the sun went down.

  
“So, little brother, what is this that I hear about you?” Laura started, walking up to him. Her four children already running in circles in the sand. “You’ve got the hots for that ice cream kid and you didn't tell me?”

Derek narrowed his eyes, glowering at her. Who was out there spreading that kind of rumors? Was it Cora from that one and only time they were to the ice cream parlor together? That made no sense... Some visions of sweet brotherly torture twirled in his head, as his eyes drifted toward where Cora was standing clearly flirting with that curly blond life-guard.

  
Unfortunately, his death glare didn't have much effect on Laura and didn't seem to discourage her at all. She had the big sister's advantage, always had, always will.

"Mom told me."

"Mom? How would mom know anything?" Derek frowned. This wasn't what he should have been focusing on, he should be denying. 

"Talia Hale and her connections. Don't ask. That's just how the world works." Laura shrugged. She put a hand on his arm before asking, "Is there some new crunchy details? All I know from mom is that you seem to have found yourself a strong interest in ice creams these days and that the rumored-to-be very cute guy there might be the reason why.”

“Lila likes ice cream.” was the only answer Derek deigned give his sister.

“Pffft,” Laura grimaced, rolling her eyes. “I feel like I'm missing all of your life now that you're not at the mansion with us."

"You just need to come over more often. You're always welcome, you know that." He said in a soft private tone.

Derek had been busy with his brand new life, he only really realized now that he had been missing her too. He didn't feel the need to always be there at the mansion anymore but he really wanted to have his sisters around. It was a thing about family and pack that he couldn't get out of his system. The only time it happened, it was because of Jennifer's enchantment. Now, even with being busy and focusing on Lila, he always had his bonds tied around his core. Always felt pack, even without being there with them physically.  
He wouldn't say no to big pack cuddle though. Those were great.

"The kids miss their play partner." Laura admitted with a smile.

He snorted. "Play partner? That's how I'm called now?" 

"I don't make the rules." Her smile turned into a smirk.

She glanced down at Lila who was pressed against Derek's leg, too timid to go anywhere. In some sense, Derek enjoyed having her little body pressed against him. It felt right to be her safety net. He loved that she saw him as safe now. He hoped that she would feel confident and safe in herself soon, that she would grow into her own power. He almost wished she would grow to be as free and as confident as Cora. What would become of him if he had two of those? The world might not be ready to handle two Coras.   
For now, this worked. It wasn't a hug yet but it was something. He wouldn't have believed that a month ago.

"Hey, little one." She crouched down in front of Lila and spoke in her soft motherly voice. 

That voice had the power to soothe anything and anyone, even Derek. Laura had been the one to cuddle him, taking his head in her lap and brushing her fingers through his hair when he finally came back after Jennifer. Laura might be the most empathizing person he knew, the only one who had been able to put him back together somehow. She was going to be a wonderful alpha when her time came.

"Do you want to go play with your cousins? You don't feel the need to run around a little? Tonight is the full moon, you must feel the jitters, don't you?" Laura asked.

Lila nodded. It was her first full moon since he had gotten her back. He had tried to talk to her about it. The pull of the moon was not extremely strong on children. It started around three years old. As children, they could shift of course but it was more a question of restlessness and jitters that were difficult to control. That was the whole point of it, learning control, finding an anchor in the pack bonds. He hoped Lila had found some sense of belonging, even a remote one, to help her get through tonight.

He was ready to spend the whole night running on the beach in case she hadn't.

Laura took Lila's hand and guided her to where her children were now digging holes in the sand with their bare hands. Derek even caught a glimpse of some claws being used to dig deeper.

He watched, breathing the salty ocean air, the soft wind flowing all around him.

He knew Stiles was somewhere on the beach. He could smell him.  
The fact alone that Derek recognized his scent in a crowded beach was already wrong in itself. Maybe not wrong, but intense. Too intense. Derek only focused on remembering scents of important people. Important as in either loved ones or threats. Stiles was neither.

Derek wouldn't let himself be fooled by his mother's interpretation of things.   
He went to the ice cream parlor a lot. That was all there was to it. Derek as well as Lila really enjoyed ice creams. As for the rest, Derek would deny it and hope that his heart wouldn't betray him if he ever had to say the words out loud.

He tried to pinpoint exactly where Stiles was in order to avoid him. No way he would let his whole pack witness the way Stiles was so comfortable around him or how Derek just accepted it. Derek wasn't completely oblivious about himself, he knew himself quite well. He also knew that sometimes it was better to not go for risky moves.   
Safe. Safe and comfortable. That was all Derek wished for his life. He didn't wish for huge romantic love stories that left one or two people broken. That wasn't something he wished for at all.

Unfortunately, before he could make it more than a few feet down the sandy path, Derek heard a very familiar voice yell, “Hale!”

He had half a mind to ignore the call altogether but he could feel half a dozen pairs of eyes zooming in on him in a second. Even his mother who was busy speaking with one of her spokespersons all the way at the event podium was clearly staring in his direction.

Way to be discreet. 

He turned around to find Stiles lounging in a folding chair to the side by the rocks. Derek tried to glare to make it clear he wasn't in the mood right now. Stiles only answered it with a cheeky grin. Derek had no choice but to come closer.

"Hey!" Stiles said more softly. "You came to reminisce on your younger years? Where are your pail and shovel?"

"Aren't you missing some good business by being here basking in the sun?" Derek asked, trying to cut the conversation short.

"My friend Scott is keeping the shop. He was in need of something to do. What could be better than to let his best friend be free to come check out all the nice little shirtless action going on on the beach today. I mean I'm certainly not complaining about the view." Stiles smirked, eyes pointedly roaming all over Derek's bare chest.

"You are -" Derek shook his head, his brow furrowed.

Words were definitely lacking for everything that Stiles was. A shameless flirt was one thing. Really cute in his little batman swim trunks was another one. And pale, pale and dotted with moles all over his chest and up his neck. Some even noticeable on his thighs. 

"Yeah. I'm a sight, I know." Stiles snorted. "I admit I'm not... I mean I should work out more."

"You're fine." Derek said, pressing his lips together.

It was the least incriminating words he could find to get himself out of Stiles' seemingly deprecating description of himself. Stiles' heart jumped. Clearly he had taken "Fine" as meaning exactly what Derek tried to not say. Derek couldn't completely suppress the blush creeping on his face. His ears were definitely hot right now. Stiles looked exceedingly pleased with the turn of the conversation and mostly with himself. Smug little idiot.

Hopefully, this exchange went unnoticed or his family would never let Derek forget it.

  
Suddenly, Lila started to scream from where she was sitting near the hole they had been digging in the sand. Derek turned around to see Matthew, Laura's oldest son, half shifted and getting angry. Lila was crying and ran away in the opposite direction, where the crowd died down and the beach was nearly empty.

"Oh Fuck." Derek muttered as he ran after her. 

He heard Stiles get up and start running too. He didn't have it in himself to question why or order him to stop. Derek needed to go and Stiles could follow if he wished.

  
Soon enough, Derek found Lila curled up behind a rock by the peer. 

"Lila," He said softly. "What happened?"

He was barely getting Lila to look at him when he heard Stiles breathing heavily, finally catching up to them.

“I will conquer this almighty sand dune or die trying!” Stiles yelled jumping off a 2 feet tall dune on the side of the rocks, and falling on his ass in a big dramatic flail of his arms and legs.

Lila giggled wetly at how ridiculous Stiles was. Derek had never been more thankful for Stiles’ antics.

“Uh, knock knock? Miss Lila Hale?” Stiles pretended to call out, his index tapping on a piece of drift wood left there on the sand when the tide was high.

Lila sniffed, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. She didn't turn around.

"Would you wish for some company? I know that mister dad here is a little worried. He really hoped you'd have a good time at the beach." Stiles said tentatively.

Stiles' hand found Derek's and pushed him a little more toward his daughter. He followed the movement, glancing back over his shoulder to give Stiles a slightly skeptical look.

She sniffed some more. Derek would have liked to let himself drown in the ocean, that was how much he felt like a failure right now. He had no idea how to turn this around. All he could do was to follow Stiles' lead. How could he even let himself do that when he had only known the man for a few weeks? He somehow trusted Stiles with this. With this and somehow with a lot more too.   
Derek frowned. He wondered if he should say something, try to tell this little girl that he only meant well, that he was sorry he sucked. God, Derek had no idea what to even feel. 

  
"What happened?" Derek asked again, in his softest of voices.

"Matty got mad at me... I wasn't doing it right and it collapsed... And he wanted to bite me." She managed to say between sobs.

"Honey, he wouldn't bite you." Derek came closer, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Oh yeah, that's some scary stuff. When Scott got bitten and couldn't control the shift on the full moon, he almost bit my head off." Stiles nodded vigorously.

"That's not helping." Derek deadpanned.

"No, yeah. No. Of course, he didn't bite my head off, I mean, look at me. My head is still very much in place. Almost too much in place, wouldn't you say? Yep." Stiles tried to sound convincing.

_"Stiles."_

"Shut up?" Stiles offered. 

"Yes please."

"You know what would help make it less scary though?" Stiles smiled looking at Lila. "Wolfing out too! Obviously I couldn't do that when my friend wolfed out on me, but you could! That's a thing. It's not just in movies that little kids are able to shift to beta form, right?"

"Right but -" Derek frowned. "We don't want the kids to fight..."

"I'm not talking about fighting, I'm talking about equality and power." Stiles rolled his eyes. "Not everything has to be a fight, you know? Some things just work themselves out by being open."

"Okay." Derek considered him a second.

"Lila, you know how to shift your eyes and claws. Wouldn't that be awesome to do the thing for real? I'm sure you would be as impressive as your dad!" Stiles exclaimed excited at the prospect for some reason.

"You think so?" She asked, her big eyes looking up at them both. 

"Yeah!" Stiles agreed. "Let's do our own competition! The best wolf out face. Lila gets a head-start because we are gentlemen here and it's always ladies first."

"Are you sure?" Derek asked to the both of them. 

That was a big step for a werewolf pup to shift for the first time, for any werewolf to shift in front of someone new. It was a lot. It meant something. The fact that Derek actually wanted to do it with Stiles. Share that moment with his daughter, shift himself too. Shifting himself might be the bigger step here, because even though he wouldn't be any less strong than he was now -he would be even stronger in a way- it was letting himself be vulnerable, show a piece of himself that not a lot of people outside of his own family ever saw of him.

"Are you scared?" Stiles asked, his tone genuine, nothing taunting in the way he looked at Derek. 

"No." 

It wasn’t a lie, Derek realized. His eyes searched Lila’s face and even though she wasn’t as confident as he was, she didn’t seem scared either. At least not terrorized, not scared like she had been when Matty had shifted on her. They could do this.   
He nodded giving her his full attention. She closed her eyes, focusing all her will into the shift. Nothing happened for a couple of minutes. No one dared say a word. She wasn’t giving up, eyes still closed, that little crinkle on the forehead deepening slightly. Derek waited, he knew she could do it. Physically she could, he hoped that mentally she was ready to accept it too.   
Stiles went completely still next to Derek, his eyes solely focused on Lila’s face and the longer hair starting to grow, the change in her features. 

“Duuuude.” Stiles breathed, in awe. “You did it.”

Lila opened her eyes and startled herself with a brand new sense of vision. 

“You did it,” Derek smiled, heart full of pride. She truly was wonderful. 

She laughed excitedly and threw herself at Stiles who caught her a little late and came tumbling down on the sand.

Derek took this opportunity to shift himself. They both turned to look at him hearing his growl. He was showing off just a little. A burst of laughter escaped out of Stiles’ mouth as he was sitting back up.

“Oh my god, what happened to your face?” He laughed. 

Derek growled again, “It’s not too late for a wolf to bite your head off. I happen to know where I can find fangs which would do the job just fine.”

“Yeah the ones in your mouth do look pretty sharp... that might be tricky under some circumstances.” He gave Derek a wink.

Derek stares at him blankly. Valiantly trying to not picture what Stiles could be referring to, he just detached his mind from the thought altogether and looked at his daughter, nose up, smelling the ocean air.

“Okay!” Stiles clapped in his hands once. “Now it’s time for a growling contest! I won’t ask for a howling contest because I know for a fact that there are a bunch of wolves out on this beach and I don’t want us to create a diplomatic incident. But growling, growling should be just fine! So let’s go. I’ll start..” He took a dramatically long inhale before letting the air out slowly baring his very human teeth.

Derek huffed. Lila ran in circles around them finding her new balance. She stopped dead in her tracks the moment Stiles ran out of breath. 

“My turn!” She smiled her wolfy grin, full of mischief. Of course, she imitated Stiles’ long inhale and letting a deep rumble build up in her chest before starting to growl. 

In Derek's absolutely biased opinion, it was a nice growl for a pup. The whole thing was so endearing. Stiles was clearly as charmed as Derek felt. 

Then it was Derek’s turn. Some part of him couldn’t believe he was doing this. He had always taken his wolf side so seriously, like a gift but also a burden, never really as something fun.  
It wasn’t as if he had been brought up to think the wolf was superior or better in any way. His family wasn’t like that. That was one of the reasons Talia was so appreciated in the community. Her views were what society needed, a fight for equal rights, not for a supremacy of any kind. Derek didn’t worship his wolf side, it wasn’t that at all. Being a born werewolf, he had never known anything other than being who he was, his human side and his shift.   
Even as a child he had always preferred being cautious. It had changed somewhat during his teenage years but betrayal and hurt didn’t wait for Jennifer to come into his life, he had had his fair share of pain over the years. He learned quite early that he shouldn’t let his guard down. It was a defense mechanism to not let loose, not have fun.   
_Why so serious_ , that was what Laura often said when she let her nerdy side come out sometimes.

Not now though. Not right now with these people.   
He growled at his heart’s content. Uncaring that he was certainly heard from the other side of the beach. Not giving a single fuck that all his family could hear him and would give him hell for this. He just wanted to let go of everything he had buried inside of him.

“I shouldn’t be turned on by this.” Stiles murmured to himself. He turned bright red when his eyes locked on Derek’s, realizing that he had spoken out loud. 

Derek stopped growling immediately, surprised by the confession. The question forming on his parted lips died as Lila jumped on him. He caught her, his arms wrapped around her, bringing her closer. She accepted the hug, her little arms coming around Derek’s neck. 

He hugged her slightly tighter, but didn't dare move more than an inch. If his kid was anything like him when he was her age then she could be spooked in an instant. One wrong move and they could lose all of their progress. 

She let out another rumble, almost like purring. Derek’s heart clenched at the sound. It felt so right to be here doing this. Maybe that was Derek’s problem, he always assumed Lila was like him. She was but not entirely, she wasn’t Jennifer either, she was her own person. She didn’t always feel the same way Derek did. He was finally starting to get to know her for her. And she was doing the same. She finally accepted that Derek wasn’t some big scary wolf. Not if he didn’t want to be. And she was herself a big scary wolf all on her own.   
This hug meant more now than it could have ever meant if it had been forced before. 

Derek shifted back. Lila was still in beta form, not exactly sure how to proceed. Derek held her hands to help her focus on something tangible. The softness of his skin against the sharpness of her claws. She closed her eyes again. He praised her, murmured all the things he wished he had known to tell her before but knew how to now. How she was his as a wolf and as a child, how he wished she knew how much his life had changed for the better since she was with him, how he would never let her go.   
When she opened her eyes, they were green again. 

“Daddy. I did it.” She breathed.

“You did it.” 

Stiles started to turn to head over to the sandcastle competition, maybe to give them some privacy, or maybe because Stiles was actually interested in the creations. Derek could hear people talk excitedly about a sculpture of a mermaid riding a wolf. That was surely a unique sight not to be missed.  
Before Stiles could make it more than a step, he turned back to stand in front of Derek who was just getting up. Stiles darted in to give him a soft, one-armed hug.   
Not much more than that.   
It could have stayed like that, something casual between people who were starting to be friends to some extent. Except it didn’t feel casual. Not after what had just happened.

Derek let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding and wrapped his arms around Stiles, pulling him closer. "Thank you." He murmured.

All he could smell was iodine and sun and Stiles. Warmth with a little aftertaste of sunscreen.

"It was nothing." Stiles said against the skin of Derek's neck, clinging to him just a little tighter. He knew very well, it wasn't nothing at all. It was a lot, if not everything.

“Liar.” Derek confirmed, he didn’t even have to hear Stiles’ heart. He could feel it beat against his own chest.

Stiles tensed at the word, but relaxed right away.

“Ah werewolves.” He said in an amused tone. 

Stiles’ joking mood didn’t last long as he turned serious again in an instant. He quickly turned his head to give a short closed mouth kiss on Derek’s cheek.   
Derek barely had time to register what had happened before Stiles was already jogging away, back toward the crowd.

“See you later, Mister Hale.” 

*-*-*

A warm and fuzzy feeling clutched at his chest for the rest of the afternoon and wouldn’t let go even when Laura teased him about disappearing behind rocks with unknown young men. He only rolled his eyes and told her he knew she had done worse things in her youth. She smacked him a little too forcefully, growling that she was still very much in her youth and to never divulge her secrets to mom or dad.   
  
Derek would deny that the wind kept smelling like Stiles’ lips for some reason. He would also deny that he wanted to taste them on his tongue to know if Stiles tasted as sweet and tangy as he smelled. He was glad that no one asked these particular questions.

  
Talia came to him when the sandcastle competition was finally coming to a close. The one with the mermaid was the clear winner. Derek's mother was radiant in the evening light. This life worked for her, her natural authority finding grace in the town and in the community. Derek envied that sense of purpose sometimes, that sense that Laura had too. It must be nice to know exactly where you were needed and wanted. 

"I hear we have a new beta pup. Congratulations, son." Talia smiled.

"Yeah." Derek breathed out, his gaze roaming over the beach to land on his daughter running her arms stretched out chasing a seagull. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy with all this progress. I am very proud of the two of you. But understand, please understand, that I am cautious.” Talia had that serious tone, the one that meant business.

Derek tilted his head in question, tried to diffuse the tension, “Are you going to tell me that you are cautiously optimistic? That’s Laura‘s expression.”

Derek understood his mother’s caution, he himself only dared believe things were finally looking up, letting himself remember that a month was really not a lot, probably not enough. Nothing about his relationship with Lila was supposed to get fixed over the summer. It was going to be on-going, learning each other, accepting each other. Derek was only glad that they were on their way. His skin was still tingling with the feeling of the two hugs he had received today. 

“Could you tell me what’s going on with that boy?” Talia asked, her eyes full of alpha intent.

“Mother, nothing is going on.” Derek felt his heart tick as he said that. Of course, his alpha knew too. 

“Oh, honey.” Talia slid her hand up Derek’ arm to squeeze his shoulder. “I hope you’re being careful with your heart. You are such a gentle soul.”

 _“Mom,_ stop.”

“There are a lot of feelings here. I can tell. A mother knows best.” Talia said, apparently refusing to stop.

Derek didn’t have the heart to try to contradict her in any way. If he was lying telling her that nothing was going on, when the facts were on his side as nothing was actually going on, surely saying he didn’t have any feelings would come out even worse. 

“He has magic.” Talia stated finally.

Her tone was indescribable as she said the words.  
The whole conversation gave Derek an uneasy sense of deja vu. She had expressed the same feelings years ago when he had started seeing Jennifer. Talia had always been over-protective of her pack, her family. He wasn't surprised she came back with the same exact concerns now, she had been hurt as a mother and as an alpha by how things had turned out back then. He knew she only wanted Derek to have someone who would be deserving of him, that was her motherly instinct.  
Derek had dismissed her worries about Jennifer. His mind had been clouded by a false sense of certainty, a sham of knowledge that Jennifer was the one for him, telling him that if the concept of mates wasn’t just mythical, she would have been it for him. All of it had been fake but he hadn’t known that on instant. He had only been able to push back against his mother’s words, had only gotten defensive over her concerns, not able to hear her in any way. But now... Now he owed it to her to listen, didn't he?

  
Derek was all too aware that Stiles had magic, that was one of these things that he couldn’t ever ignore about him. Just like Stiles couldn’t ignore that Derek was a wolf. It just was their own truths.  
Derek understood the wariness. Magic, again. Cora would laugh saying that maybe Derek had a type. She might even be right saying so. It would be so much easier to fall for a wolf, grow the pack, continue the lineage. It would be so much easier.   
But Derek was a little bit of a marshmallow deep down. He could never go for the reasonable and easiest thing to do. How could he go and find himself a nice little she-wolf and have a litter of pups if his heart wasn’t in it. If his heart craved something different, someone different, someone who was able to keep him on his toes and push him to grow and be someone better?

What was to be said of all these nights he couldn’t shake the image of Stiles’ bright amber eyes, the constellations of his moles dotting his skin? So many hours spent replaying one of Stiles’ jokes or that flirty or snarky comment that always had a way to make Derek’s heart stop for a second. Derek might have to admit to himself that he just couldn’t get that boy out of his mind. Days had been spent waiting to go back to the ice cream shop to finally see him again. Maybe he craved that sense of belonging that Lila seemed to find in Stiles, maybe Derek felt it too even if Stiles was neither a wolf nor pack. It was something else, something different Derek couldn’t really put a word on yet.

“Be careful with your heart.” Talia leaned in to gently kiss his temple. “I only want what is best for you. And for Lila.”

Lila. Derek could hear her playing on the beach, using a small seashell to draw patterns in the sand. Matthew and the other kids had come to apologize a little while ago. Lila had only shrugged, apparently accepting the apology but not deigning giving them the time of day more than that. She was the most important part of Derek’s life, he reminded himself.   
Derek’s heart was full of love for her, he could say that without the shadow of a doubt now.   
His little crush on the ice cream guy could be put on hold for the sake of his family.

*-*-*

How could Derek forget about Stiles when Lila was always talking about him?

  
Derek could understand though, it was only the day after her first beta shift, the morning after her first full moon being bonded. Derek could honestly say that things went quite well. They didn’t sleep, that had been expected. She had been too restless after the events of the day. They spent a few hours cuddled on the couch Derek telling her stories of the first full moons he remembered from when he was a kid. Just as other memories from that age, all of it felt hazy and sprinkled with the innocence of a child. She took them as fairy tales.  
They spent hours playing with the shift, replaying the growling contest Stiles had orchestrated, making up their own contests too. They did it in good nature until Lila got too excited and lost control, ripping the living room curtains to shreds, throwing the tiny pieces in the air above her head like confetti.  
Derek tried to contain his laughter. He hated the curtains anyway, they had come with house when he bought it. May these ugly ass curtains rest in pieces.

They watched the night retreat slowly as the sun rose.   
Lila spoke of magic, of a feeling she had but lacked the words to describe.  
Derek thought of Stiles, thought of Stiles’ eyes seeing so much, of Stiles’ hands warm to the touch. All of him.

  
He made a point the whole day to not mention Stiles. Lila did it enough on her own. Their conversations often turned into something along the lines of Stiles said this or Stiles did that. Lila seemed to have chosen her favorite person on the planet, Derek wondered why he was fighting himself on this. 

  
He didn’t know if he had done the right thing coming here. Their life here at the beach house seemed to revolve around that one feeling. For the both of them. He might have gone about bonding the wrong way. Maybe he should have pushed through, stayed with the pack even through the tears and hopelessness. It had felt so wrong, he hadn’t seen any other way but out of there. He had left thinking it was going to be temporary, thinking they would be coming back to the mansion when things would have settled, when life would have felt a little less like Armageddon.   
They were there now, at that point in time. The point where Derek thought they would have been moving back to the pack house. Lila accepted him, the next step would be to bond with the rest of them too. Derek had expected it to feel anxious about it. He had only lived away from them when he had been with Jennifer and none of it had truly come from him. None of it had been real.   
But now, living here with his daughter, he sort of learned to appreciate the freedom of it. He was still bonded of course. He was still part of the Hale pack, would always be tied to them. Only now, he didn’t feel like running back to the mansion, didn’t feel like he needed the shelter of them to protect him from the world and from himself. He had grown to love the beach house, the song of seagulls, the calming rhythm of the waves, even the distant chatter of teenagers making a bonfire on Saturday nights a mile away.

  
There was something here, a love grown between him and the elements, between him and his daughter, between him and... yeah.

Something else. A new feeling. A sense of family of his own.

*-*-*

Cora came over in the afternoon, talking excitedly about that new boy she met at the beach. He had given her his number and she was in need of some male advice she said. 

Derek rolled his eyes. She was always the first person to mock him and now she was asking for his advice? That curly guy clearly had made an impression.

“Are you planning on breaking that poor lifeguard’s heart? Think of the children.” Derek joked.

“Haha. You are just so funny.” Cora glared at him. “Have you ever considered that my relationships failed because I just wasn’t feeling them? Should I force myself to live a life I don’t want because of how perfect some of the guys I dated seemed to be to mom or Laura or even you?”

“No, of course not. Although I quite like Boyd, I still don’t understand what went wrong with him...”

“Boyd is married now. He found his one and only. It wasn’t meant to be between us, that’s all. Would you want me to force destiny?” She shrugged.

“You know that’s not what I mean. But destiny, really?” Derek rolled his eyes. Destiny was a myth.

“He feels right, Derek, when something feels right, I don’t see why I shouldn’t go for it.” Cora seemed adamant. She had always been determined and opinionated. It wasn't going to change for the matters of her heart. Derek should learn.

“Are you trying to tell me something in that very sisterly way of yours?” Derek cocked his head.

“Ah well... you know me, two birds one stone. Efficiency at its finest.” She smirked.

“Your guy is a wolf, isn’t he?”

“Bitten yes. But does it really matter? Are the parents onto you with their old ways of thinking? I know they mean well but I’m glad times have changed. I’m glad that we are allowed to date whoever we want, that we don’t need to hear everyone fucking through the walls every night and call it pack bonding. Imagine if we had to grow up hearing mom and dad, then Laura, I mean four kids, okay the house is big but, imagine...” Cora grimaced, disgust clear on her face and in her voice.

“No I don’t want to image that.” Derek would like to erase that mental image out of his brain.

“Poor babe, are you scarred by the thought of your family’s sex life?” Cora laughed. She wasn't that much better just a minute ago, but she wouldn't pass up on a reason to mock her big brother.

“The less I know, the better I feel.” Derek admitted.

“Let loose a little.”

“Tell me about your guy.” Derek wanted to go back to the subject at hand here.

“Subtle of you,” she noted. “Well, he’s a lifeguard on the weekends and works at the vet’s clinic with one of his friends during the week. He smells musky and has a perfect smile and perfect hair. He feels nice. I’m not saying he’s the one I’m going to marry, I just met him but I could date him. In fact, I intend to do just that. If you could please help me write that stupid text!” She all but threw her cellphone at Derek’s face.

Some switch flipped inside of Derek. Suddenly he had someplace to be and something to do. Why now? He wasn't exactly sure, maybe something about what Cora said finally hitting the right part of his brain, of his heart. 

“Yeah about that, can it wait? I have to go. Lila is asleep because the night hasn’t been easy. Can you stay?”

“Wha-“

He didn’t really give her a choice or the opportunity to answer, he grabbed his keys and was out the door. He really had something urgent to do right now. Better to do it now and not give himself to time to talk himself out of it. 

He ran all the way there actually. Ran fast.

*-*-*

Stiles was rearranging the tables outside on the terrace when Derek got there. He had run at full speed, but the only tell of this was his messy hair slightly damp from sweat and iodine air.

Derek exhaled loudly coming to a stop a few steps from where Stiles was standing. 

"Promise me you're not a psycho." He breathed out instead of saying hello.

Stiles turned around slowly, squinting his eyes against the slowly lowering sun as much as Derek's request. "What?"

"Promise me that none of the ice creams you fed me was a love potion."

"Love potion?" Stiles shook his head quickly. Blinking at him for a moment, sightly dazed. There was no lie in his heart when he added, "Nah, I don't do love potions, that's just creepy, there's the whole consent part of -"

Derek closed the gap between them, cupping Stiles' face and bringing their mouths together in one, two, three kisses. Stiles stilled in surprise before relaxing.  
Stiles let himself be kissed, his lips following the movement, welcoming Derek’s mouth.

He stopped to breathe and admitted, "The psycho part? I don't know, man, I could be a little. I'm a lot. Even for myself. I'm a lot to handle."

"I think I can handle you." Derek felt his lips curl at the corner and didn't even try to stop it this time.

 _"Confident._ I like that." Stiles smirked, and all but dragged Derek back into the shop.

He pushed him back against the glass door. If they were going for privacy, this was definitely not the place, but Derek forgot about the world a second as Stiles slipped his tongue into his mouth.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that." Stiles said against Derek's lips, moving to kiss Derek's jaw. “You took your sweet sweet time.”

Derek sighed at how good it felt.

"It's not...” Stiles stumbled over the words, taking a tiny step back. “This isn't just because I'm a child's magic whisperer, is it? It's not just because your girl likes me? I mean, you -"

"No." Derek replied immediately. "You were and are wonderful with her, it's true. But it's... You're gorgeous, Stiles, and..." Derek stopped a second pushing the word out because it almost pained him to admit it, "funny."

Stiles beamed, just on the side of smugness. "I do see you smile quite a lot for a grumpy face."

"Yeah..." Derek admitted. "And you're opinionated. You have a good heart."

"Oh. Alright. So you're in love with me." Stiles joked, sticking the point of his tongue out between his teeth. He was so ridiculous, Derek refused to find him endearing.

"Shut up." He said instead of denying. “Shut up,” Derek said again, his cheeks heating as he carefully avoided Stiles’ gaze.

Oh fuck, that defense was weak.

Stiles laughed, a wide grin stretching across his face.

“I’ve been so patient. I’m amazed with myself.” Stiles said almost preening.

"Will you go on a date with me?" Derek asked. He felt almost shy.

"Shit, a _date!?"_ Stiles exclaimed a little too loudly. "Shit. Yes. Of course, I'll date you, yes." He rubbed a hand down his face letting out yet another curse. "It's just that I sort of hoped we'd go straight to the nakedness. I mean, _wow,_ ok, yes a date works too."

"I just want to do things right." Derek answered, leaning in for another brief brush of lips. It wasn't really a kiss, but more a need to feel Stiles against him, learn the shape of his lips with his own.

"Everything's right. I'm just saying, there's no protocol to follow here. I'm going to be super cheesy and tell you : you do you, okay? I'm fine with whatever is coming." Stiles said, his tone so earnest. "It's not just because you have the body of a Greek god. Even better in fact, because I have been blessed enough to sort of be able to guess the outline of what was going in these tiny swim trunks of yours and I'm fairly certain that is no tiny Greek god in there."

Derek snorted. Stiles always had a way of turning something serious into something else. Fun. Light. 

"It's just you. I want..." Stiles brought a hand up to cup Derek's face, thumb caressing his cheek. He looked at him with such tenderness, looking at him but also through him.

"What do you see?" Derek wondered softly.

Stiles bit his lower lip, considering him for a second longer. "You're... beautiful. And soft." 

He punctuated that last bit with a cheeky smile that Derek allowed himself to kiss.

"Makes me want to give you everything I can." Stiles added kissing the corner of Derek's mouth. "Make you happy."

Derek closed his eyes, breathing the words in, feeling them resonate in him, being reciprocated. He was happy standing there, breathing Stiles in, until his mouth felt Stiles' prying his lips open and sucking on his lower lip, with just a hint of teeth nibbling at it. Then he was happier, if that was even possible. 

The kiss turned into another, then another, Derek's hand clutching at the fabric of Stiles’ shirt, the other finding the low of his back, pressing Stiles' hard body against his.

Stiles moaned, Derek froze and let out a short sigh. They were moving a little fast. 

"We can stop..." Stiles opened his eyes, panting breaths escaping his reddened parted lips. "We can stop if you don't want..."

"I want." Derek said, staring at Stiles' pupils darkening, knowing that it was reflected in his own. "It's just. I haven't. I. I can't even remember the last time I truly wanted to."

"Anything you want, anything you need." Stiles sighed and tilted his head slightly, exposing his throat to him. 

"What are you doing?" Derek huffed, shaking his head fondly.

"Isn't it how it works?" Stiles smiled, teasingly, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "I'm sure I read somewhere about wolves and their neck fetish."

"Shut up." Derek smiled.

Stiles gasped as Derek's stubble grazed across his throat, tongue and teeth teasing up toward his earlobe. Hot breath soft as a feather across his ear.

"Should we move this little show somewhere more private?" Stiles raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Derek blushed, only remembering now that they were still against the glass door of the shop, visible to anyone walking by. Stiles had that smug expression on his face, that adorable smirk on his lips.

Derek could barely handle him.

“Come on.” Stiles pulled him to the back of the kitchen.

In a second, he was already leaning against the counter behind them and pulling Derek with him.  
Derek was unable to think about all the reasoning he had before, everything that made him want to wait. He didn't want to wait. What he wanted to do was kiss Stiles until the whole world stopped turning, until there was nothing but this moment like a crack in time and space where they were just the two of them kissing.

Stiles was surprisingly fierce when it came to kissing, he knew exactly how to get what he wanted, body moving, showing just how much he might have been craving this. Craving it as much as Derek had maybe. There was just so much urgency somehow, Derek could barely handle it, him, his warm hands everywhere. Werewolves were supposed to be warmer than average but right now, Stiles' hands were burning hot on Derek's skin. All he could feel was goosebumps erupting every time the brush of Stiles' fingers left his skin.   
Stiles pushed his hips against Derek’s. They were going there and Derek had left all his reservations at the door. He slid his hands down Stiles’ back, over his ass and down his thighs, touching everything he could before hauling him up on the counter and fitting himself in between his legs.

“Can't say I'm disappointed by the turn of events,” Stiles laughed breathlessly. 

His legs found a way around Derek’s waist, his hands in Derek's hair pulling just slightly before Stiles leaned in to kiss him again. Derek rocked their hips together, grabbing Stiles' ass and pulling him as close as possible, moving him to the rhythm.   
Stiles threw his head back, gasping. Derek knew Stiles was most certainly doing that on purpose, _neck fetish_ , Derek could have laughed if he wasn't overwhelmed by that exact feeling. Fuck. Derek gave in to the temptation to nibble down his neck, following the dotted path on Stiles' pale skin. Stiles was writhing against him. 

Derek finally let go of that soft little spot where Stiles' neck meet his shoulder. He made his way up to his jaw to find his mouth again.

"Fuck, Derek." Stiles mumbled between panting breaths. 

His fingers were still in Derek's hair, pulling, scraping at his scalp. The feeling had Derek close his eyes, he almost felt like purring for a split second. He moaned instead. This was oh so good, Derek wanted more, wanted everything. Stiles naked in bed, naked on the beach even, naked in the ocean waves under the full moon. 

Stiles' hands moved from his hair, down his back, to the waist of his pants and under the waistband.

"Fuck." Derek rasped out, his throat tightening around the word, hips moving, grinding to give them more friction.

Derek was close, he wasn't going to last long, his body shuddering his Stiles' hands, Stiles' legs tightening around him, bringing him closer if that was even possible.   
Stiles' heart was skyrocketing, hard and fast, Derek felt dizzy from it all, his whole body and mind filled only by Stiles' heavy breathing, fast blood pulsating, his sweet tangy smell turning sweaty and salty, thrilling, his hands, his body. Fuck, Derek's orgasm turned his vision white behind his eyelids and Stiles was close behind, his body turning completely dead still in Derek's hands but for his heart sounding ready to implode at any second, alive against Derek's fingertips. 

Derek buried his face against Stiles' neck, mouthed at his collarbone, tasted his salty skin. Breathed him in, not ready to let the moment go just yet.  
Stiles’ heart was still beating fast against Derek's chest, it almost felt as if it was trying to sneak in, find a place there just next to his, under the protection of Derek's rib cage. 

  
"Pfffioouuu..." Stiles breathed out, Derek could feel he was grinning.

"Yeah," Derek agreed, face still hidden against Stiles' skin. 

He might want to stay there. Forever.

  
*-*-*

Derek and Lila were going to Magic & Cream every day now. There was just no need to pretend to space the ice cream outings out by a couple of days to not act too stalkerish or high on sugar. Derek felt a little high on Stiles sometimes, but Stiles was neither an enhanced ice cream nor a drug. He was still somewhat addictive in a way.

The summer would be coming to an end soon. Everything already felt like a new beginning. The tourists were fewer and the days were slower at the shop, meaning they were able to stay all afternoon without getting in the way. Lila would bring some of her coloring books and some toys, enough to keep herself busy most of the time. Derek would take every opportunity to go behind the counter to steal a kiss or two. 

"I feel like we're teenagers who can't keep their hands off each other." Stiles smiled at him, his hands finding a way to come tease the waist of Derek's jeans. 

Derek just hummed in agreement, kissing down Stiles' neck to his shoulder, not daring to put some nice little hickeys there. yet. 

  
Stiles' friends came over one day. Derek was surprise to see Cora's lifeguard in the mix. He just watched Stiles interact with them without really knowing if he should go introduce himself or if he had a place in there.

That same redhead woman, the one Derek had seen that first day all these weeks ago, took Stiles by the hand and pulled him to the side. She pointed her finger in the direction of one of the guys in the group. 

Stiles chuckled knowingly. "The usual?"

Lydia nodded. "You know it. I'm not here to waste my time."

Stiles glanced at the guy a little longer. "He doesn't seem too bad. Not blueberry bad at least, but let's just make sure."

Stiles went back to the counter, not without bee-lining to Derek and pushing him along with him.

"I didn't know they were coming today. Are you feeling up for this or not? It's okay if you're not, I mean, Scott knows everything. As a best friend, he was required to hear everything from the first day I realized there was something to tell. Plus, it was pay-back for all these times he couldn't shut up about Allison being too pretty and too badass and how he would never love another. - Yes, Scott, I know you can hear me, I haven't forgotten you are a werewolf!" Stiles finished, putting his hands on his hips to give himself more presence.

Derek glanced back to see the two wolves at the table staring in their direction.

"Do you know the curly one?" Derek asked instead.

"Yeah, that's Isaac. He's basically Scott's brother. Good dude. Why? You got a crush?" Stiles winked ostentatiously.

"No, I'm good. I've got a handful already." Derek rolled his eyes. "But Cora."

"Oh my god!" Stiles exclaimed. "The awesome she-wolf he's been going on and on about is your sister? I mean I guess there’s something to be said about the power of DNA..."

"Small world, huh?" Derek shrugged, but his eyes were still sending daggers in Isaac' direction.

"Don't worry, he's a good one. There's no need for special orders here."

  
Lydia's new man passed the ice cream test. He didn't turn purple and ate his ice cream without noticing anything wrong about it or about the way everybody was waiting expectantly for something to happen. Nothing did.   
Lydia relaxed and invited Stiles over to their table.   
He hovered a minute, looking expectantly at Derek. It was now or never. It felt like a big step to go meet Stiles' friends, introduce himself as what? Stiles' boyfriend? Was that what they were? They hadn't even talked about anything, it was still so very new. They hadn’t even been on that one first date. 

Derek nodded and stepped out of the shop to get to the terrace where Lila was still sitting quieting playing with the squishies she had gotten in a couple of toy capsules. 

Cora’s lifeguard was in fact Scott’s roommate. They had met through counselling for accidentally bitten werewolves. It was a crime to bite someone against their will, but as anything else in society, that didn't mean that rogue alphas didn't take some liberties and ran wild sometimes. Scott and Isaac made up a tiny pack of their own managing to stay betas by being together even without an alpha.   
They had been bitten in their teenage years and were still figuring things out, Scott admitted. Derek wondered if it was too early to invite them over to the mansion to introduce them to his mother. It probably was. It probably wasn't his place to invite his sister's crush into the pack without consulting her first. If everything went well between them, she would be the one to invite him. It would just be the natural order of things to invite a potential partner to the pack. Derek hoped.

"So soft." Stiles leaned close and whispered low for only Derek to hear.

Derek looked at him and sure enough Stiles had that glazed over look he had sometimes when he was watching something other than the tangible world. If Stiles was to be believed, Derek had cotton candy insides. Such a big softie apparently, he couldn't even try to deny it anymore.

Everything would turn out alright.

*-*-*

Derek insisted on an official first date about a week later. He brought Stiles home to the beach house after the movie. Cora had accepted, or more accurately been forced to babysit again. Lila started to enjoy her young aunt and who was Derek to deprive them of some quality bonding time. 

Cora made some comment about Derek finally loosing up a little. Hopefully she would let it go now.

She smiled and wrapped Stiles in a soft and warm hug. "Thank you for all of this." She murmured as she let him go.

"I can't take any credit." Stiles blushed, wringing his hands nervously. "He's sweet all on his own."

"Go away and go find your lifeguard, Cora." Derek pushed her out of the house without much force.

  
Derek went to check on Lila who had been in bed for a while. As soon as the door cracked slightly, her eyes flew wide open. She had been waiting for him. Derek felt his heart swell with a feeling he only knew because of her.

"Daddy..." she breathed out. "Daddy. Daddy!" She jumped out of bed, excitedly.

"Yes, yes. I'm home." Derek went to her quickly.

 _"Daddy."_

She stopped all movement to stare at him in the darkness, her eyes glowing gold for a millisecond. Derek answered her with his own.

"Daddy. I have magic." She confessed whisper quiet.

"You do?" 

A noise was heard from the hallway and they both looked up to see Stiles standing there. 

"Sorry, uh, since you're busy I was wondering if I was supposed to leave or...?"

 _"Stiles!"_ Lila shouted excitedly.

"Come on in." Derek gestured with his head. "Lila has some big news."

"Oh yeah?"

"I have magic. Just like you. Look!" She said showing them her little closed fist.

When she opened her hand a tiny little golden light butterfly flew out, flickered a second before disappearing in the darkness. 

Derek was speechless, in awe.

"Wow." Stiles said. "It took me a long time to manage a pretty butterfly like that. That's very impressive. Natural talent."

"It's wonderful, honey." Derek said, his voice trembling slightly.

Somehow his feeling toward magic had changed over the summer. He had always thought he would love his child even with magic, _despite_ magic in a way if that was what she was, but somehow that wasn't what he was feeling anymore. Magic wasn't bad, wasn't to be feared, didn't have to bring him back to that feeling of wrongness he had felt all these years ago. Magic was light and colors, smelled of citrus and spices. Magic was this feeling right here, and yes it felt nothing short of wonderful.

“You think so?” She asked, staring at him so earnestly.

“Can you show us again?” Derek nodded with a smile. 

She beamed. 

They ended up curled up all three of them cuddling in her tiny single bed, Stiles and Lila, on either side of him, spreading a galaxy of butterflies flying and hovering over their heads until Lila finally fell back asleep.

Derek was in love with this moment.

"Is it Fate that brought you to me?" Derek asked, eyes studying the man lying next to him.

"I don't know about Fate. But I can't say I didn't have a hunch from the moment I first saw you either." Stiles confessed. "Just a hunch."

"I'd like to see what you see." Derek whispered in confidence.

"Naaahh." Stiles shook his head. "You don't want that. It's hell learning to control it. Plus, you need to let me have an advantage. You know too much already."

Derek smiled. "What do I know?" 

"You know my heart... You know too much, I'm telling you, _too much."_

"Maybe that's not enough. I want to know everything." Derek confessed softly.

Stiles leaned in, almost to kiss him, but stopped, breath ghosting over Derek's lips. 

"We need to get out of this bed and into another one."

"Yeah." Derek nodded, feeling breathless all of a sudden.

*-*-*

Fuck, Derek couldn't get enough of Stiles. Derek's bedroom door closed behind them and it was as if he had thrown all his inhibitions in the wind. He shoved Stiles against the wall, pinning his arms on each side of his head. 

Stiles moaned. "Okay, I can roll with this." 

He chased Derek's mouth and caught it in a wet kiss, nibbling at his lower lip. 

"Shit." Stiles gasped as Derek pushed one of his legs in between Stiles'.

Stiles got a hand fisted in Derek's hair, as Derek moved to mouth at Stiles' neck. There was a little bit of a sense of frenzy, of intense desperation but somehow still felt tender and light.

"Oh shit." Stiles said again. "This feeling should be an ice cream flavor. What would it be called?"

"Sex?"

"Nah that's not it. I've had sex, I know sex -"

Derek kissed him to shut him up, moved his hips grinding against Stiles' making him gasp into his mouth. 

Stiles chuckled. "Possessive much?" 

Derek growled. He wasn't extremely possessive but thinking about Stiles having sex with some other people while Derek himself was trying to get there himself wasn't particularly a fetish of his. Stiles' neck, Stiles' hands and fingers, these were things that could definitely work. Derek leaned in to suck a nice little bruise on Stiles' collarbone. Okay, Derek admitted to being a little possessive. 

"Okay, okay that works." Stiles panted in Derek's ear. "What I was saying -"

Stiles was still talking? Why was he still talking?

"Uh, yeah, I was saying. That's not was this is."

"I'm fairly certain this qualifies as sex. If not right now, wait a minute until I get you naked." Derek promised.

Derek moved his hands under the hem of Stiles' shirt, traced the path of that soft stripe of hair under his belly button. Derek wanted to taste it. He very well might. 

"What could be a good name for this ice cream flavor? That's not a normal flavor. That tastes like..." Stiles was still talking to himself. Moaning too.

"Love?" Derek supplied. It was very cheesy but his blood flow wasn't occupying his brain at the moment. "I noticed you don't have a love one yet." Derek tried to salvage some dignity.

 _"Oh,_ is that what this is? Love?" 

Derek faltered in his movements, eyes meeting Stiles', his cheeks blushing under the intensity of his gaze. Oh no, Derek was being seen again. 

Stiles' smile was blinding. "Wait. Wait, I need to taste it again just to make sure I get the flavor right."

"Right. Accuracy in flavor is very important." Derek breathed out just as Stiles' lips found his again. 

  
*-*-*

Derek made his decision the first week of September.

Lila was starting preschool in the supernatural section. Part of the decision was because life at the beach house had found a nice rhythm. Starting school was a big step and it wasn't the right time for changing their habits now.

  
The beach house was his home. It was the place he fell in love with his daughter, the place she accepted him in return. This was the place where he felt like a father and she felt like his daughter. That meant so much. He knew now he would try to show her his love every day for the rest of their days. 

Mostly, Derek realized that he wasn't missing the mansion at all. The mansion was only four walls on a hill. The traditional den where everybody had to live as a pack, that was the old school view on things. Cora was right, not everything was meant to stay the same.   
Derek could let himself change too, grow into something new, better. A father, an individual too. 

He could give his room at the mansion to Scott and Isaac, they needed it more than he did now. Talia, after a thorough interrogation, had of course agreed to let them come into the pack. Cora was happy taking things slow with her lifeguard, especially now that they were housemates on top of everything.

Derek wasn't rejecting his pack, far from it. He was finding a new way to bond, a way that felt right.   
His pack was in his sisters coming over for pizza night, it was the children running in the waves, digging a hole and burying one of them until all was left was a head out of the sand.  
His pack was his dad calling him from the store asking if he needed anything, taking care of him in a very Dad way, coming to fix up a porch swing and drink a wolfsbane beer with Derek while watching the sunset without a word.  
His pack was his mother worrying about him like she always had. A mother, an alpha, she would always have that overprotective quality to her. She understood him though, tried to at least. She accepted Stiles, would welcome him as part of the pack if he was Derek’s choice. She let Derek make his own decisions and that was all he asked of her.

His pack was also here in his daughter. A little in Stiles too, although Derek wouldn't admit to it yet. Some part of him knew he didn't have to admit to it when Stiles could tell so much of it already.  
Derek knew he could tell from all the _"soooooft"_ Stiles couldn't help but murmur to himself when Derek let his mind wander on some very soft thoughts. Derek would turn to look at him and find him staring, his face resting on the palm of his hand, studying all the colorful vital energy twirling in front of him.

  
Stiles couldn't read mind, that was Derek’s saving grace, but his energy apparently turned into mush when he thought about Stiles' kisses or the way his eyelashes caught the sunlight sometimes. 

Derek’s pack bonds were all here tonight vibrating under the moonlight. His whole family with all the new additions too, down on the beach with him, around a bonfire eating pizza. Sparks were flying from the flames over the crackling wood. The song of the wave caressing the sand echoed through the night.

For now, Derek let himself breathe, let himself relax into a pack cuddle. A bigger and stronger one than it ever was before. 

The stars twinkled, as if winking down at them. Stiles’ eyes met his, a promise of what was to come. 

Derek felt at peace.

This was as close to perfect as life could ever get.


End file.
